Entrepreneur Comparison to Starting from Scratch Chapter 19

While Chapter 19 primarily focused on Kimberly Wilson building and living her brand image, I found several comparisons between her experience as an entrepreneur and my interview with Harry Stokes, founder of Contemporary Benefits Design, Inc. First, I felt one thing these individuals had in common was their desire to get away from their jobs and create their own business. Kimberly was very tired of being a paralegal and wanted to fulfill her own personal dreams. On the other hand, Harry wanted to leave his job because he was tired of seeing others benefit from his work as an insurance salesman. In addition, another common trait between Harry and Kimberly would be sticking with what you know. In Chapter 19, it reads that Kimberly was never a numbers person, so she had to hire out a lawyer and an accountant. In addition to numbers, she also stated that she had another huge problem with managing and delegating tasks. In my interview with Harry Stokes, he also told me that managing cash flow and managing people were his two biggest problems starting a business. One other common link between the two entrepreneurs would be the way that they marketed their business. Word of mouth is the primary method of gaining new clients for both businesses. Lastly, in Chapter 19, Kimberly spoke of having to put in long hours with her business, especially when she was short handed. I immediately thought of Harry Stokes saying, "I usually spend close to 50 hours per week in my office, and another 15 outside of my office." Although these two entrepreneurs have two totally different businesses, both share several common characteristics of great and successful business leaders.