The Power of Gradual

Feb.10, 2009 in Entrepreneurship, Non Profit, Start Up, Uncategorized

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The Power of Gradual is quite possibly the most powerful force ever.  It takes discipline, hard work, and time, but it has proven time and time again the best way to get things done.  Have you ever placed a bucket under a dripping faucet and forgot about it?  By the time you walk by it and remember later it’s overflowing!  

The power of gradual can be seen in our daily lives, a man works out daily to lose weight, a student studies nightly to avoid cramming the night before, an artist chisels away at stone a little at a time.  By working bit by bit, and day by day average people see amazing results.  The funny thing about these results is that we are continually shocked by them, as if they happened overnight.  The water overflows, the man loses 50 pounds, the student aces the test without studying the night before with his peers, and the artist creates a masterpiece after a year of slowly taking small chips out of rock.

Entrepreneurs use the power of gradual when they remain persistent and think strategically about how to get a product shipped, how to cut through red tape, or how to network into a prestigious venture capital firm.

The power of gradual is why EMS will be coming to it’s fruition on February 28th.  Getting an organization like this off the ground would not have been possible if it were carelessly thrown together overnight.  It has taken a year of networking, an all-nighter to craft a website, and hours of meetings with professors and students, but yet it feels like it’s all gone by so fast.  There is still a great deal of work that needs to be done, the pace will pick up, but it will still be gradual, step by step, day by day.  I look forward to being shocked at what EMS Dallas-Fort Worth has become!

This blog will gradually grow to become a resource for young entrepreneurs where we will share the hurdles, successes, and even failures of both our members and our speakers.  Stay Tuned, great things are coming.

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Welcome!

Feb.10, 2009 in Entrepreneurship, Non Profit, Start Up, Uncategorized

This Post originally appeared on Young and Frugal, a blog devoted to teaching business and personal finance to Generation-Y.

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As I’m sure you can tell, I love business and personal finance (why else would I create a blog about it?), but what many of you might not know is that my true passion lies in entrepreneurship.  My passion came about in college when I decided to surround myself with the people I wanted to be like; it just so happened that all of them were entrepreneurs.  As a result of this passion, in college I was heavily involved in the entrepreneurship program in and out of school.  After being out of school for almost 2 years, I miss it, so I call a friend and pseudo mentor to talk.

I’ve prompted my friend and pseudo mentor, Shaun Tan, at least 3 times on a concept I’ve been thinking about since my junior year of college, and I’ve always gotten the same genuine response of “let me know when you’re ready, and I will help out in any way possible.”  However, when I prompted him for the 4th time in December he gave me something additional to think about when he said “think of all the people you will help,” and that single phrase has served as the tipping point for me to take a concept I am passionate about from dream to reality.  

What you need to understand is that Shaun isn’t just a friend, nor is he just a mentor, the man is the Godfather of the Entrepreneur Mentor Society (EMS), a non-profit organization, based in Los Angeles, that is designed to take college students from around the area and educate, promote, encourage, network, and develop them as entrepreneurs.  And the concept that I am passionate about is creating an organization just like it in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

I was a member of this organization (as well as it’s predecessor), and truthfully speaking, without it I don’t know if I would be the person who I am today.  I wouldn’t be as driven, and I definitely wouldn’t have started Young and Frugal.

In thinking of all the people that I, and the organization, will be helping, I am pleased to announce the Launch of EMS Dallas-Fort Worth launching in February.

We will be pooling students from Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, The University of Texas at Dallas, The University of Texas Arlington, The University of Dallas, and hopefully a few more in the area.  Sessions will be held over 8 Saturday mornings throughout the semester, and the students will get the opportunity to network and hear the stories of successful entrepreneurs, as well as learn skills that are vital to being an entrepreneur.

If you or anyone you know might be interested in joining as a member, or speaking and helping out as an entrepreneur please visit www.emsdallas.org for more information or contact me at daniel.bowen [at] emsdallas.org.

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