Very Short Interview Part 2 - Week 14

Looking back at the interview I had with Mr. Ladson, I found that the questions and answers were very powerful idealistically, however there was much to still be said about entrepreneurship.  From everything I have learned in this class, I realize there are so many details associated with entrepreneurship that it could be easy to lose sight of the big picture and what it is that drives someone to be successful.  I think the part Mr. Ladson touched on about fear of failure is extremely important.  I think this fear is what drives us to not be complacent and to continually evolve so that we may grow our business ventures or run them more efficiently. 

Because Mr. Ladson is in Jacksonville, I was forced to correspond with him over email.  Here are the questions I asked and his answers.

How often do you think about your competition?

In the market I’m in, competition is not as big of a deal as most other markets.  With industrial development, the focus is really about catering to the client, not proving your businesses worth over the next guy.

Did you have a concrete plan for your business when you started out? Did you follow it?

There wasn’t really a concrete plan for the business, but I did have a general idea of what I wanted to do.  I think it’s difficult to set up an exact plan because of how quickly things can change.

Have there ever been any times you questioned being an entrepreneur?

All the time but if you believe in what you are doing and your skill set, you can overcome fear. When you stop being fearful, you are probably destined to fail. 

I feel that I have definitely developed my entrepreneurial ability greatly through this class.  I think that I really learned how many different facets there are in business development and it helped me be a little bit more pragmatic in my approach.  I think I feel very comfortable in talking about the ideas of entrepreneurship in general, however I still feel uneasy about talking with an already successful entrepreneur.  I realize all of the details that are needed, but I don’t think I have enough information on the actual details themselves to be confident when talking with an entrepreneur.  Mr. Ladson did not really mention anything about my personal progress, but I think he was impressed with how our class was structured.