Pause to Understand

Hi all you amazing helpers!!!

I've had some questions regarding the details of this project. One person on Facebook asked for more information and the background of our team. This seemed like the best way to share!

I am taking an Introduction to Entrepreneurship class at Brigham Young University. Each week, we discuss a different skill needed to be a successful entrepreneur. This week we discussed negotiation and how 10 minutes of negotiation can often earn you more than a year of work. As an entrepreneur, there is so much to do, we need this sort of efficiency in our work.

We then watched a clip about the One Red Paperclip story. A man name Kyle, living near Vancouver, Canada, decided he wanted a house. But as he realized how much work it would take to get enough money to buy a house, he wondered if he could negotiate his way up to the house. Starting with a small red paperclip he had on his desk at that moment.

An ad went on Craigslist and within a year he had made 14 trades - the last on earning him his house.

He received a wide range of offers and had to choose which would move him closer to the house. He also had to learn to negotiate to get the deals he wanted. By negotiating, he could ensure that each trade would make as big a difference as possible.

To teach us negotiation skills, our professor challenged us to form teams, take a rock from nature, and make trades to reach a goal. I was sitting next to Michelle and Jennifer and asked if they wanted to form a team with me and we started off.

The trades should be mutually beneficial. When we say "bigger and better," we don't mean we want to give you junk for something great. The items we receive can be something you were going to donate to DI or Goodwill. And as we start trading up, what we can offer you will improve. Perhaps if you think you could help, let us know what you would like. We can work to get you your item along our way. Kyle of oneredpaperclip.com accepted a rare snow globe for one of his trades just so he could get it to an actor who wanted to make a trade.

At the end of the project, we will be dividing the final product three ways. We chose a car because it is a product that is frequently sold and we can easily divide the profits from a sale 3 ways. Also, it just sounded fun to see if we could get a car out of a rock. We are all poor college students. For me, the money from the car would allow me to finish my undergrad education without incurring any debt - and I am super excited about that idea. I'm not sure the exact use Michelle and Jennifer will be putting their earnings too, but tuition, food, and books were all listed as great uses for this "rock money."

So spread the word and have some fun!