My interest in entrepreneurship roots back to my father, a
high school teacher who owned and maintained a landscaping service nearly his
entire life in my hometown of Sarasota, Fl. It began in junior high when he had
the idea of using my grandfather’s lawnmower, and going door to door like many
other kids do, however, this scenario turned out different. Throughout high
school my father continued his small service and grew it to nearly 40 accounts
by the time he left it for my grandfather to operate while he studied at UF.
Years later he was able to land a teaching job in Sarasota and hired workers to
continue the landscaping service as he owned and ran the business. Always
having that income on the side proved to be a difference. Recently my father was
able to retire from his teaching job after 30 years, and now works for himself
and is able to live more freely.
The
idea of having multiple sources of income has always been a goal of mine, and I
hope to have even more than the 2 my father had. I plan on working in finance
following college, where I can begin earning some capital to put towards my
entrepreneurship dreams. Besides stock investments, I also dream of flipping
real estate, starting a business (event planning, pro shop, etc.), and possibly
begin my own financial firm one day with my brother and another close friend in
the financial field. The ability to have these sources of income on the side
only comes if the hard work is done and put forward, which has been exemplified
to me well. At 57 my father was able to retire from his TEACHING job, and now he
works and lives on his own schedule, which just shows how beneficial even the smallest
bit of entrepreneurial drive can make a big difference in the quality of life
you want to live.
I recently
decided on minoring in entrepreneurship and this is the first class I have
taken towards the degree. I have always been interested in history as well
which is my major, and I feel that each of these studies mesh together well.
History is something that often gets overlooked in many struggling businesses
and could help in many ways to identify and solve issues. I’m very excited to
finally get my foot in the door of entrepreneurship and use these 2 subjects
hand in hand.
Hi, David! A random coincidence, but I grew up in the Sarasota area too! I went to Lakewood Ranch High before moving.
ReplyDeleteI'm also planning on being in the entrepreneurship minor and am into the idea of living on multiple sources of income! In my spare time, I do digital art, and plan on taking commissions in the future as a nice side income. I think a history major and entrepreneurship minor is an awesome combo. I feel like people usually associate history with being very 'by the book' and strict, but entrepreneurship is very free and creative.