Is The American Dream Still Alive?2/27/2017 The media loves the sensationalism of it. Many love to protest it. Others use it as a platform for reconstruction. The American Dream - is it dead or alive? Seems like there’s a lot of talk about the American Dream at present in our country. What is it anyway? The American Dream is the national tenet of the United States, the set of ideals (democracy, rights, liberty, opportunity, and equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work..." What stands out to me in this statement are the words ‘opportunity’ and ‘hard work’. What this tells us is the American Dream is an opportunity to prosper yet it only comes through hard work. Yet this still does not address the question - is the American Dream alive or dead? I know of a story which may help you with this question. While this may be just one story it’s important to note there are thousands of others like it. You decide. Our story starts off with a talented young woman who calls Portland, Oregon her home. Carly Sitner is a mother of two, a wife, a sister, a daughter, a vegan and one tough cookie with the courage of a tiger. Needless to say she's incredibly busy. Speaking of cookies, Carly happens to be a chef with a specialty in pastries, desserts and other fancy baked goodies that sooth the soul and make your taste buds run wild. Carly (pictured here) has been a chef for 13 years in Portland working for a variety of bakeries, including some very large corporate establishments like the grocery store that sells only 'wholesome' things to eat. At the age of 31 Carly decided that enough was enough and she was going to make her dream a reality. She was going to open the first ever vegan donut shop in Portland. What’s amazing about this story is what Carly is leaving behind in order to follow her dream, the American Dream. She's leaving behind a stable leadership role with the 'wholesome' grocery store, a good paycheck and a job that is rewarding - all for the unknown. Yet she’s doing it anyways. Mind you she has a very full life outside of work yet that doesn't seem to stop her. Starting a small business is no day at the fair. It’s hard work, long hours, risky and takes determination. If it was truly easy everyone would be in business for themselves. Yet Carly pushes onward. It would also be important to note that neither Carly or her business partner are wealthy, nor have they been given a huge sum of money in which to seed the business. Often times I hear people talk about business owners and just automatically assume they all came from gobs of money. This just isn't the case. Carly started off the ole fashion way with nothing more than an idea and a will to see it through. First they built interest in their product (craft made vegan donuts) in the local community by doing bake sales and small catering. They then took their idea on Kickstarter where the community responded with praise helping them pass their goal, handsomely. Carly and her partner then took those early wins and proceeds which were acquired with lots of time, patience and hard work and presented it to a couple local banks. With little collateral and just a dream a bank shared their vision and gave them a loan to start the business. As we fast forward to present day, the donut shop, called Doe Donuts, is scheduled to open early this summer, albeit with a line around the block from patrons feverishly waiting to sink their teeth into the tasty baked goods Carly whips up. The story of Carly Sitner and Doe Donuts may still be in the early chapters yet as with any good story you know you’ve got a winner even when you’re only a couple pages in. The story of Doe Donuts and the entrepreneurial spirit of Carly and her business partner sheds much needed light on the types of opportunities that exist in this country. Thomas Edison once said, “Opportunity is missed because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Apparently Carly enjoys overalls and hard work because this opportunity isn't passing her by. Is the American Dream alive or dead? I believe it is indeed ALIVE and well and Doe Donuts is a fresh and tasty example of what can happen when someone puts words to action and follows their dream. As it turns out Carly Sitner, our pastry chef extraordinaire, also happens to be my younger sister. I’m incredibly proud of her and the decisions she’s made to follow her dream of owning her own business while doing something that she truly loves. I look forward to being one of her customers waiting patiently in line to savor their tasty donuts while taking a bite of Carly’s version of the American Dream.
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I had always wanted to start a business! For years I tried my hand at inventing stuff, products that I thought would get me rich, if I could only sell a few million of them. First it was a gaming chair, then workout towels and even a handheld flashlight projector. I laugh looking back on those days while in college and the years shortly thereafter at some of the absurd things I did to try and be entrepreneur. What I would eventually find out are those ideas didn’t work out not because they were bad ideas necessarily but because I was following the wrong dream. It wasn’t until the summer of 2015 that I would find my way, diving head first into entrepreneurship. Thankfully I had a lot of help from many close people around me (wife, parents, friends) who all were incredibly supportive, as without them I’m not sure I would be here today. With the first year of entrepreneurship under the belt I’m continually amazed at how much I’ve learned and how much I continue to learn about being an entrepreneur and business in general. These are the eight experiences I’ve had which made the biggest impact being an entrepreneur: 1.Get A Mentor This is the single second best decision you’ll ever make in business. The first best decision is to become an entrepreneur. Mentors have experience which you can learn from helping you avoid mistakes along the way. 2.Support Gets You Over The Hump Make sure those close to you understand your vision and support it. They don’t have to buy in 100% but if it’s you against the world there are going to be some very long nights in store. If you are married it’s vital your spouse understands the opportunity and supports it, even in the down times. 3.Some Things CAN Wait Some people will tell you it’s important to write a business plan, vision, mission, blah blah blah, right away. Unless you’re in a situation where you need to ask for capital to start the business the best thing to do is put those things aside and focus all your efforts on how to make money. Ultimately being an entrepreneur means you’re selling something to someone so the more time you spend on how you’re going to gett paid for the product or service you’re providing the better off you’ll be. 4.You Can’t Be Everything To Everyone I failed miserably here. When I did start to get customers I tried to offer everything under the sun to get their business. Now, I never over promised and under delivered, however I spent an exorbitant amount of time in areas that weren’t lucrative or didn’t align ultimately with what the companies direction was. 5.Having A Plan-B Is Dangerous I’ve read countless articles about “the power of having a ‘plan-B’ ” or an alternative course of direction. I hate that advice. As an entrepreneur if you don’t believe in what you’re doing and have a plan-B set up in case you fail you’re almost destined to set yourself up for disappointment. I’m not saying it’s not important plan ahead for bumps in the road but if you’re going to start a business that should be your one and only focus. Anything other than a mentality of success has no place in your new direction. Visualize to materialize. 6.Outsource Work The first several months I attempted to handle all the accounting and finance portions of the business only to realize two things: 1 – I’m not good at it nor do I like it; 2 – I created more problems than I remedied. Best advice I got was to pay the money to get a good CPA that understood our business and could help us scale it up by making good decisions. Best money I’ve ever spent was on our CPA. 7.The Power Of Saying ‘No’ Crucial to your success as an entrepreneur is the ability to politely and professionally say ‘no’. Similar to ‘you can’t be everything to everyone’ saying ‘no’ is harder than it sounds. Naturally you want to say yes to everyone, making everyone around you happy, especially if it’s a customer. Unfortunately when we do this we get pulled in a hundred directions which causes us to deviate from our destined course. If you are asked to do something and it doesn’t align with your top 2 or 3 priorities politely decline and thank the person for the opportunity to be considered. 8.Breathe, It’ll Be Okay Very few things in life actually have the ability to stop you from moving forward in your new business. When bumps in the road momentarily derail you (you will experience plenty of bumps along the way) take a deep breath and be thankful for the opportunity to learn and grow as a professional. Stephen Covey put it best when he gave us the 90/10 principle: “10% of life is made up of what happens to you, 90% of life is decided by how you react.” – Stephen Covey About the AuthorTravis Smith is the founder and managing director of Square-1 Engineering, a medical device consulting firm, providing end to end engineering and compliance services. He successfully served the life sciences marketplace in SoCal for over 15 years and has been recognized as a ‘40 Under 40’ honoree by the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce as a top leader in Orange County, CA. Categories
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