Report for when I missed class on October 9, 2012

            I attended the AgEI fall Entrepreneurs round table event on October 9, 2012. I learned many things from this event and I think this event helped me somewhat with my decision about my future. Currently I am stuck with a major life chose, to me. This choice is for me to just go home once I finish college and apply my gained knowledge to my father’s farm or to further my education after my undergraduate degree by going to veterinarian school and then going from there. From this event I learned 3 main things about being an entrepreneur: patent your ideas, you’re in the job to make money but you must still have fun or enjoy this job while doing your chosen job and finally be bold, don’t be a pushover because this will make you not accept or like your business as much as you should.

            I was able to talk with Tom Buman about his entrepreneurial experience. He specified that all people are in their business to make money. He believes that you must also enjoy your job or you will be less happy with your experiences. He said he was working for a government program but quit that job because he finally realized that was not the job he wanted to deal with for the rest of his life. He then went back to college to finish his degree and started his conservation company by creating a system concerned with farming conservation.

            I was also able to talk with Drew Ryder, who is a major contributor to the corporation Feedlogic. He talked to a group of us about his company and how they have made a difference in animal feeding operations. He wanted to make sure we understand that you must be bold in your choices and interests. If someone tells you that your idea has already been disproven try it anyways. Don’t be a pushover to people that think they know what they are telling you about something unless they have proven and honest research. But even at that you should try it anyways.

When you have an idea you may easily want to tell your friends about this great idea. Not such a great idea. Bill Rohlfsen, owner of the Moss Buster Company, had a great idea but he told one of his friends about this idea and lost over $125,000 due to this. When we listened to Mr. Rohlfsen tell his story he stressed the fact that in today’s society you must patent your ideas or else they are as much yours as they are your neighbors.

These three ideas about entrepreneurship that I have taken away from this event have helped me to have a better perspective about what I consider to be a major life choice for me. I hope to have my decision made by the end of fall semester of my sophomore year. I plan on going to more events such as this and am currently thinking about joining the pre-vet club on campus to help me also.