By Hanna Kim, Gustavson External Relations co-op student
Third year BCom students, excited to kick off the new school year, attended the Workplace Skills Conference as part of their orientation activities. Blake Adam, the co-founder of Medimap and a UVic BCom alumnus, provided the students with three crucial steps to take for a successful business:
If entrepreneurship is something that excites you then continue to think about ideas and talk to people about them.
The first tip Blake talked about was the importance of keeping notes and thinking about new business ideas. He advised the students to imagine they are already entrepreneurs and not be afraid to talk about their ideas to other people. He calls it a “self-fulfilling prophecy,” if you talk about your ideas with others, they will come to life. If you don’t, they won’t.
Take a leap. Take the first step towards your goal.
When you have an idea that truly excites you, it’s time to make the decision. No matter how great the idea is, without the first step it will never happen. Blake advised that quantifying the risk can help you mentally prepare for the next steps you need to take. “What’s the worst that can happen? When you take a close look at the risk, it often is not as risky as you perceive it to be.” If after the decision process the idea still excites you, then it is helpful to surround yourself with people who support and believe in you.
Determine your values, and let them guide you.
For this final step, the students performed exercises that help them find their values. You can try them now for yourself.
Close your eyes and think of the moment(s) when you felt most happy and excited in your life. Which words can describe those moments? What kind of values relates to them? Is it an intellect? Relationships? Or Learning? Try to discover the values that make the best out of you and let them be your guide.
