Guest Speaker Erik Hanberg

On Thursday January 22, 2015, a guest speaker named Erik Hanberg came to our entrepreneur class. He shared his experiences and knowledge of having many businesses. Mr.Hanberg said that his first business that he opened was a theater. I think it was for plays but not movies. Due to a lack of profit in the business, he shut it down. Mr.Hanberg started writing books after that and even set up a website from which he could sell his books through Amazon.com. I believe, he currently has written seven books and is working on his eighth. The books he has written vary from non-profit to fiction to mystery. Most of his books are series. Furthermore, he went on to talk about his wife and how she is a graphics designer. He stated that she has a lot of skill and experience in the work she does. They both brought their skills together and started a company called “Side x Side”. In this business, Mr.Hanberg provided his experience to new start-up businesses while his wife did the graphics design for the start-up businesses. On another note, Mr.Hanberg also has a job as a commissioner of the Metro Park in Tacoma, WA.

I was very impressed when he said that he now has two children and how it affects his businesses but he still somehow manages to do everything. Some important points to mention about what he said: “Be a starter”, “Everyone has ideas”, and “2 kinds of work”.  The first one, “Be a starter”, means that no matter what idea you have that you believe in, you need to just start shipping.  The second, “Everyone has ideas”, means that everyone has ideas but you need to put in the work to make something happen. The last one, “2 kinds of work”, he mentions that you could either sell your time or sell something else. Selling your time is like working a job like a 9 to 5. Selling something else is like selling a product or whatever your business may be.