Built in Progress

       For this assignment, I watched Simon Sinek’s TED Talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action.” The main idea of the talk is that successful leaders and businesses don't only focus on what they do or how they do it. They start by explaining why they do it. Sinek calls this idea the “Golden Circle,” which starts with why, then how, and finally what.      One thing I learned from the talk is how important having a purpose can be when trying to sell something or get people to believe in an idea. This stood out to me because I am interested in business, sales, and marketing. It made me think about how a business can separate itself from competitors instead of only talking about its services or prices.      What I liked best was how Sinek used real examples to make his point easier to understand. Apple was especially interesting because he explained how the company markets what it believes instead of only listing features of its products....

Starting a business has been one of the biggest learning experiences for me recently. My cousin and I started a pressure washing business called Saguaro Surface Solutions. Before starting it, I thought a lot of running a business was just doing good work and finding customers. I quickly learned there is a lot more that goes into it. We have had to learn about equipment, chemicals, pricing, marketing, insurance, and even small things like how we communicate with customers. A lot of it has been trial and error. There have been days where equipment did not work correctly or something took way longer than we expected. At the same time, figuring those problems out has probably taught me more than if everything worked perfectly from the beginning. One of the biggest things I have learned is that you are probably never going to feel completely ready. At some point, you have to actually start and learn as you go. I am still very early in the process, but I already feel like I understand busine...