Very Short Interview No. 1

I interviewed David Hudson for this assignment, he is a owner of several businesses in the Tampa Bay area. Some of his businesses include, Hudson Inspection Service, Firm Foundations and Hudson Engineering. He also helps teach an entrepreneurship class at Trinity College of Florida as well. Here is a transcript of the interview: 

What kind of advice would you give to someone just starting as an entrepreneur/business owner?

I recently started teaching an entrepreneur class at Trinity College of Florida and I actually get that question all the time. My response every time is if you can think of something else than do it. I often then get an extremely puzzled look and I tell them of all the bad parts of being an entrepreneur. Think about all of the costs, the possibility of bankruptcy, health risks, time commitment etc. If these things make you nervous than don’t do it. If I am able to talk you out of pursuing entrepreneurship just through telling you stuff then you aren’t deeply committed. If an outside opinion changes your mind then you won’t make it, if you still want to pursue it then you’ll make it.

What characteristics does a potential entrepreneur/business owner need to have?

They need to be imaginative and creative when it comes to every part of their business. They must be self-motivated since they do not have a supervisor and work won’t get done itself. They should be a risk taker; they have to be prepared to take a loss. Not every single idea they come up with will be successful. Remember that their identity as an individual is a separate identity from your business. You can’t take things personal and you can’t be afraid to change things such as naming or branding. You have to be able to let things go and have humility. One example of this would be making my first million in the business before I was 28 then I literally lost it all overnight and built it again by the age of 35 but as an entrepreneur this can be a normal cycle. Everything can change extremely quickly.

If you could do things all over again, would you choose the same career path for yourself? If not, what would you change?

                 

Yes without a question I would do it again. Once you become an entrepreneur it’s a lifestyle choice. I worked in a large corporation before but it was never a fit for me. There are certain things I would change though looking back. Some examples would be that I would avoid debt, avoid expanding faster than the business can handle and I would diversify my company sooner.

When conducting this interview I was very surprised by the complete raw truth of the answers I was given, These questions are ones I have always wanted to ask an entrepreneur and business owner because of my dream to one day start my own business. The response to the first question really made me pause and think if I was truly dedicated to the idea of owning my own business one day and upon reflecting I know that I still have drive and motivation to do so. Nothing can deter my ambition in this area of my life and I look forward to the second interview with Mr. Hudson in the future!