Self-Reliance
1: Learn


“My Readiness for Business Success: Learn,” Starting and Growing My Business for Self-Reliance (2017)

“My Readiness for Business Success: Learn”

Learn

Maximum Time: 55 Minutes

1. Acting on Correct Principles

Read:

Many principles contribute to business success. Some of these are listed below:

  • Vision: “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18).

  • Work: “Be anxiously engaged in a good cause, … for the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves” (D&C 58:27–28).

  • Inspiration: “Cry unto [God] over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them. Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase” (Alma 34:24–25).

  • Persistence: “We will not go … until we have accomplished the thing” (1 Nephi 3:15).

  • Accountability: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things” (Matthew 25:21; see verses 14–30).

  • Abundance mentality: “The earth is full, and there is enough and to spare” (D&C 104:17).

  • Time management: “Your time is valuable” (Thomas S. Monson, “Guideposts for Life’s Journey” [Brigham Young University devotional, Nov. 13, 2007], 1, speeches.byu.edu).

  • The power of small and simple things: “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6).

  • Commitment: “Which of you … sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost?” (Luke 14:28; see also verses 29–30).

Discuss:

Which of these principles stand out to you as the most applicable as you start or grow your business?

2. Why Do I Want to Start or Grow a Business?

Read:

There are many valid reasons why you might start or grow a business:

  • Ownership

  • Additional income

  • Personal passion

  • Second career

  • Challenge of the experience

  • Necessity (few or no employment options)

  • Personal freedom and control

  • Greater financial security

There are a variety of paths you might take with your business. The following examples show how a few people did it.

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Four examples of how people started or grew their business

Read:

We have been blessed with resources such as time, energy, and money. We decide every day how we will allocate these resources among family, work, service, and other interests.

Owning a business creates benefits, but these benefits often come with costs. We each should seek inspiration and use our agency to determine how we use our resources for our family and life.

3. Assessing My Personal Readiness for Business Ownership

4. Business Skills I Will Develop in This Course

Read:

One purpose of this course is to help you develop the habits of a successful business owner. Successful business owners are observant, curious, and eager to learn new ideas every day. They recognize that their business opportunity is a work in progress. They understand that they will have to make many refinements to their business simply to have a successful start.

To become this kind of business owner, you will need to exercise faith and get outside of your comfort zone. You will have to get out of your home or office and frequently talk with potential customers about their needs and preferences. You will need to seek new information and feedback that will help you improve your business. Business owners who are unwilling to engage with their customers, continually learn, and make changes to their business will find it difficult to succeed in the long term.

As we work to start or grow our businesses, we will encourage each other to think and act like successful business owners. Many of the weekly commitments that we will complete outside of our group meetings will help us develop the habits we will need to be successful.

Each week we will practice the following:

  1. Observe and talk with customers: to gather ideas, understand customers’ needs, test and adjust our business ideas, and gather feedback.

  2. Write down our thoughts: to note observations, ideas from others, and impressions from the Holy Ghost.

  3. Sell: to learn to listen to the needs of others and identify appropriate solutions.

  4. Record financial details of our businesses: to track the key success factors of our businesses and to project the future.

This week you will be challenged to practice these skills and report to the group. You will also begin talking with potential customers. 
You will report your results next week.

5. What We Will Learn and Do as a Group

Read:

We will work together to help each other start and grow our businesses. Our larger goal is to become self-reliant. When we can take care of ourselves, it’s easier to help other people.

During the next 12 weeks, we will work through the following chapters together:

6. Organizing My Business Planning—The Personal Business Planner

Read:

Some people make the mistake of trying to build their businesses around their assumptions or a “gut feeling” that their ideas will work. These businesses do not usually succeed. This course will encourage you to observe and engage with customers every week and to refine your ideas according to what you learn. We will learn to “organize … every needful thing” and to continually improve our businesses and other aspects of our lives (D&C 88:119).

In this group, you will be using a Personal Business Planner to gradually build a plan for your business. The planner will help you organize details and evaluate the viability of your business opportunity. Your planner will also be useful when you present your business to the group in week 12. After you have finished the course, it will help you continue your plan to grow your business.

The details of your business plan should be tentative at first, since they will change as you learn more by talking to customers, suppliers, and other business owners. Use a pencil when writing in your Personal Business Planner, since you will want to make updates as you refine your business. Turn to the Appendix to see the Personal Business Planner that you will be using.

7. Practice Daily and Keep Commitments

Watch:

“Keeping Commitments Leads to Growth,” available at srs.lds.org. (No video? Read the script at the end of this section.)

Discuss:

How can we help each other practice skills and keep commitments?

Business Success Toolbox

In the Appendix is a Business Success Toolbox. This toolbox summarizes some of the key principles we will learn in this course and can be used as a reference.

Certificate of Completion

Read:

Group members who attend meetings and keep their commitments may receive a self-reliance certificate from LDS Business College. See chapter 12.