Very Short Interview, Part 2

My first interview with Rob Walters:

• What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?

"It means freedom, it means being responsible for yourself and your whole team. It means that if you have your bad day you could lose your company, and everyone who works for you.  It's the ultimate responsibility.  It also means that you do not have motivation from anyone else, you have to motivate yourself.  There's no pressure except for what you put on yourself."

• What do you think I should learn in an entrepreneurship course?

"In an entrepreneurship course you should learn how to start your own business, but it should be after you gain experience in another firm.  This course should give you 100% confidence that you can make your own business work.  Make your mistakes with other peoples' money, and then start your own business. You'll know when you'll be ready to go off on your own."

• What do you wish you had been taught in school before setting out on your own path as an entrepreneur? 

"It's hard to teach that in school.  It's extremely hard to be in business for yourself. You need a lot of capital, because the first year is the hardest year.  I wish they taught me that I need to set up work before you start your own business. It's something you have to learn on your own. You cant learn experience from school, you have to live it.  You have to dive into the best operated company you can find and explore every avenue of your business. Be very diversified and know your trade."

My impression of that initial interview is that I got very great advice from Mr. Walters.  He touched on the fact that you have to be responcible for your own motivation and drive while working for yourself, and that this is so important because your responsibility is higher than ever.  He also mentioned how hard it is to learn in school because being a successful entrepreneur relies on experience.  Since experience cannot be taught in school, Mr. Walters suggested making all of your mistakes with a company first, before going out on your own.  After taking this class, I would strongly agree that I would rather have experience in the work force before starting an entrepreneurial venture.  I have learned what these ventures entail and I would rather have real world experience before starting my own business. 

Interview Part 2:

1.  What aspect of your job has been most satisfying?

"For me, as a builder developer; taking raw land, and taking it into a money making operation. In other words, bringing in the utilities, bringing in the construction, the vertical building, and all the permitting and design aspects, you know, taking it from the raw land and taking it into a money making facility. It's an assent not only to the people who are using the facility, but the community as well, through tax revenue.  I enjoy having a vision, taking the vision to a money making machine. 

2. What was the last book or article you read that had the most impact on the way you run your business?

"Emith principle. It basically says that you have procedures within your company and people follow those procedures. You don't want your employees taking your business into their own hands and moving away from your businesses procedures. Keep things simple, and control your business."

3. What is next for the future of your business? 

"Eventually there will be a way to sell our properties to a real estate investment trust, and once we depreciate the assets enough, its time to roll them over and sell them and move on."

After taking this class, I have become more familiar with the terms and speech that the interviewee used in his answers.  I am not sure if he noticed a change in my interviewing confidence, but I definitely felt more at ease and confident while interviewing him for the second time, after a semester of experience.