My Last Lecture

My Last Lecture

At the conclusion of 12 weeks of an entrepreneurial class there is a lot to reflect on. This class has gotten me to really analyze my life and myself as a person. Being an entrepreneur is not as easy as I once thought. My advice to anyone thinking about starting a business is to really take a good look at your self. Question your strengths and weaknesses; this will be one of the first indicators if you are prepared to open a business of any kind.

I have seen firsthand the trials of entrepreneurship, and I count myself incredibly fortunate to have seen the rewards. Let me tell you a little bit about my family. My father came to this country on his own at age 14. He left a difficult childhood behind for the hopes of a better life in America. He had less than $50 to his name when he arrived. He worked any job he could find to make ends meat and to find ways to better his life and the lives of his family.

I’m not sure whether entrepreneurship was something he had in mind from the beginning, or if it grew out of necessity, but he started early building his own business. First it was a tree trimming service and he was the only employee. Then, when that failed, he took a job as a janitor at a Silicon Valley tech company. But the drive to succeed and to take personal ownership was still in him. It wasn’t long before he learned the skills necessary to move from the janitorial staff to the IT staff. The company took note of his dedication and sent him to school. From there he progressed into more and more advanced positions and bounced between a few companies before finally ending up as a network engineer who represented the company in international transactions and travelled the world sharing his expertise – all without ever graduating from high school.
With success and a little financial stability, the entrepreneurial bug bit again, and my father took early retirement from his fulfilling career to start fresh in an entirely new business.
From building networks to perfecting recipes, my father soon became the owner of a Mexican restaurant. Well, not a restaurant as much as a mobile kitchen (you might know it as a food truck, but he is adamant that his mobile kitchen was not “one of those roach coaches”). From one truck to four, and then to three standing restaurant buildings, my father saw his dream of owning a little taco stand grow to owning one of the highest ranked and best reviewed Mexican food chains in the San Francisco Bay Area.
My point with this is simple: entrepreneurship is difficult – I can’t tell you the number of sleepless nights he spent worrying about the business. It is risky – he left a lucrative career with great opportunity for growth and advancement. It is stressful – let’s just say all the little gray hairs starting to peak through in his hair didn’t come from me! It often ends in failure – remember the tree trimming business? Sure, it put food on the table for a few years, but it is no more. But in the end, it can be wildly successful.
Who would have ever thought the little boy who came to this country with a few dollars in his pocket, and whose first kitchen table was little more than a refrigerator box with a sheet over it would one day be a self-made millionaire? Sure, it took 25 years of hard work, but what other investment can you make with that kind of return? From $40 to a million in 25 years. That’s some great ROI!

Entrepreneurship is an investment in yourself. Sure, it’s risky, but it’s also the only investment you can make where you have a direct influence on the future value. It’s not for everyone – but if you’re brave enough, dedicated enough, and crazy enough to try it, it might change your life – and the lives of many around you.