Ice House Entrepreneurship Program: Invaluable Lessons We Can Take

There are multiple lessons to take from the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program. Although many of the lessons tend to be repetitive, there are some things that I have learned and what may be important to consider when trying to pursue what you want to accomplish. Many successful entrepreneurs share their stories as well as what they did to get them there and what obstacles they faced while going through the process. It takes you through what type of mindset you should incorporate while trying to pursue and accomplish your goals.

While listening to the Ice House entrepreneurs, a few of them have inspired and sparked an interest. Lydia Gutierrez is an entrepreneur that didn’t take any college courses on entrepreneurship. She believes that many of these classes may not teach someone how to start a business without any money as well as telling them that they need a business plan in order to execute the perfect business. She had mentioned that she had been in business for 20 years and still has no business plan, which means that a business plan is not necessary to create your own business. She surrounds herself by others who are well qualified in their positions and she has business consultants as well. This sparked an interest for me because it makes me wonder if formal learning is worth it.

This has affected my mindset in a way. Although it does has its perks, especially if you’re an international business major, it is not necessary to have formal learning in order to create a successful business. What I mean by perks is that for my major, I have an interest in working with international companies and expanding globally, so therefore I am able to learn about how other cultures and countries handle business as well as how to market towards them. It’s beneficial in a way where you are able to gain prior knowledge before submerging all the way into creating a business without any type of background knowledge on how to run it. A con with formal learning is that not everything you learn is textbook written, therefore you learn much about your business through informal learning since formal learning doesn’t prepare you for every situation that you may encounter in a day to day basis. I believe that you can benefit from both and that it can give you an overall advantage if you apply both learning techniques.

There were two lessons in particular that had resonated with me the most. One of the lessons was about the concept of branding and a person’s reputation. Not only does your personal reputation carries significance, but your company’s brand and reputation is a reflection of you as well. I believe that this holds some truth because most people will not buy into a company if the company’s reputation as well as its brand doesn’t represent the same values as its customers. Reason being is that people are not only buying the product or service you are selling, but they are purchasing the brand and reputation along with it. For instance, many people associate themselves with Apple products and buy them not only because they are known to be high quality, but also because of its status and the connotation that is perceived by others who obtains this brand

. By owning any Apple product, this may give you more status and give you “cool” points opposed to those who may purchase a windows phone or an android. Another lesson that intrigued me was about persistence. For me personally, I tend to be lazy at times, especially if it’s something that I particularly don’t want to do and I may not be as persistent unless it’s about something that I really want. Persistence is something that everyone may not have acquired. Being persistence gives you a better chance at succeeding at pursuing what you want. It goes hand and hand with failure as well. By being persistent, you are more likely to keep trying after several failed attempts and taking those failed attempts as learned lessons.

I believe that some of the lessons learned from the Ice House course could also help me succeed in college. With such lessons as persistence, positive peer pressure, and networking could benefit me. For example, with persistence it will help me in order to reach my goals and not give up even if I fail. If I want it, I’ll go get it. With positive peer pressure, I would be encouraged by my friends and those around me to become successful with a little bit of friendly competition, it could help both parties to do better and lift both up to do better things. With networking, I could build better connections and a community for myself that may be a mutually beneficial relationship in the near future. Also, by advising mentors that have been through similar things and have gone through adversity may also benefit me and help me become more successful in the things that I want to do.

Ordinary people like Uncle Cleve that have become successful regardless of their circumstances has to do with their mindset. Although he did not come from money and he did not have the opportunity to take college courses on entrepreneurship, this did not stop him or other ordinary people from accomplishing their goals. Uncle Cleve took the initiative in his life to become successful. He didn't leave questions unanswered and he found alternative answers to different questions. He also found shortcuts to life’s most complicated avenues. He found things out for himself while applying his own resolutions, which is the basis of entrepreneurship.

The most important thing that I have learned from the Ice House program is that entrepreneurship is not a walk in the park. People make fatal assumptions and believe that it is easy to become an entrepreneur and think that it is a get rich quick scheme. Many of these entrepreneurs have faced adversity many of times and many of them come from various types of upbringings and backgrounds. It is possible for anyone to become an entrepreneur with the right type of mindset as well as the willingness to breakthrough adversity.