Very Short Interview, Part 2

Below are the questions that I asked my entrepreneur. Unfortunately, do to time constraints and distance apart, I was not able to record the interview.

The initial interview was a great learning tool for me. I had never spoken so in-depth with my entrepreneur before in terms of entrepreneurship and to hear his answers was really insightful.

Q: Looking back at your entrepreneurial journey, is there anything that you would change or do differently? If so, what would you have changed/done differently?

A: I would have worked harder and pushed myself to build my business faster. I also would have taken the advice of my mentors and followed their directions more closely.  I lost almost ten years of building when I left Primerica in the early 1990's. Looking back, I wish I had "listened" to my mentors and remained with the Company and continued the building process. 

Q: Self-education is an important aspect to being an entrepreneur. What do you do to self-educate yourself?

A: I self-educate by reading books and listening to audio media by leaders within and outside of Primerica.

Q: What has been your biggest failure as an entrepreneur? How did you bounce back and how did the experience affect your attitude towards entrepreneurship? 

A: My biggest failure was to realize that leaving Primerica set my business back more than a decade. Once I returned to Primerica, I vowed never to quit again, and work hard to rebuild my business. I have learned from my mistakes, and try to convey to everyone that joins this Company not to quit. This is a proven system, in which every 36th person in Primerica wears the ring, and anyone that commits to working hard and being coachable can succeed.  Look up the story of R.U. Darby, and learn from his trials.

* In his third answer, my entrepreneur mentions a ring. Whenever someone starts to make $100,000 a year in his company, the person receives a ring to wear with a diamond in the middle. Every time one's income increases $100,000, another diamond is added to their ring. 

Looking back at this course, I have learned a lot. I have learned to embrace failure rather than running from it. I have also learned to take risks and just go for it sometimes, which is something I probably would not have done prior to this class. My entrepreneur definitely felt that I had grown since our first interview. Mainly because of the questions I had asked and because he could just read my body language. Since the last interview, it is much easier to talk entrepreneurship with other entrepreneurs because I understand it more and I feel that I am starting to become one.