Editor’s note

When I started this magazine, the problem to be solved was educating entrepreneurs from an experiential perspective. Educating entrepreneurs who want to learn the practical ups and downs of running a business and how to overcome them, educating entrepreneurs who wish to learn more but are not very good at research was the aim. The articles written in previous issues have a general theme of on the job training - articles from entrepreneurs who were brave enough to jump in and write. Entrepreneurs do not struggle with their craft as much as they struggle with “how to operate a successful business.” Unfortunately, many consultants who they turn to have not experienced the actual running of a business, so their advice is more motivational rather than practical step- by- step guides on how to start a marketing campaign or how to prepare a 3- year financial statement.

A new problem I have encountered is entrepreneurs who believe they do not have enough information on entrepreneurship to share with others. That is a contradiction. Entrepreneurs must believe in themselves to be able to survive the lows of entrepreneurship, so why not recognize you have what it takes and therefore have information to share? If you have been running a business for the last six months, there are required tasks, and you must have completed some of those tasks to be still operating a business. Even if you believe you have not been successful at it, the information is there. Put a spin on it. Call it “Things I should have done but never did.” Many entrepreneurs are struggling with the same issues you struggle with, and they will feel encouraged knowing they are not alone. You can also be supported by other entrepreneurs’ writing about their struggles in the back end of the business and how they overcame or is yet to master it. How they struggled with manufacturing and resolved that struggle, how they struggled with distribution, and how they overcame or how they struggled with finding the right customers, and how they overcame. Are you yet to overcome? Do a two- part article. Part 1- This is my struggle and Part 2- How I am getting around it. In two to six months, give another version of the same issue in our magazine.

Mark Twain says “Courage is not the absence of fear. It is acting in spite of it.” So use this opportunity to step out and do something. Make a promise to yourself, whatever you are afraid of doing, whatever skill you think you lack, try it anyway.

Stay Motivated!

Photo Credit: JANELLE CHIOMA