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my entrepreneurial journey

My Entrepreneurial Journey

I never planned on becoming an entrepreneur but now, i can't imagine doing anything else. this is my story....

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Published on  November 6, 2018

Filed under  entrepreneurship.

How did I get to where I am now – an entrepreneur who has run my own business for the past 7 years? Good question. I’ve tried to distill the major elements of my life into the story you’ll find on this page. I hope you’ll enjoy it and be inspired to uncover the important moments in your own entrepreneurial journey.

Ever since I was little, I have been creating businesses or thinking up ideas for ones. And I don’t mean the standard summer lemonade stand, because a) I don’t like lemonade and b) you don’t go outside for prolonged periods of time during an Arizona summer unless you want to willfully die by melting.

The businesses I started as a youngin were very creative and very air-conditioned.

It started with small enterprises. Like the time I sold a handmade 5-foot beaded lizard to a neighborhood boy for a whopping $20. I expanded my line to include other little beady animals and negotiated sidewalk deals for $2 here and $5 there. Talk about living a #girlbosslife… I thought I had made it big time with that moolah in my (cough cough) fanny pack.

I also experienced early business failures. Like the time I created an at-home library in front of our unused and perplexing fireplace (see: note about death by melting in Arizona).  My business model was to fine my family members when they didn’t turn in their borrowed books on time. After 20+ years, I’m still waiting for those fees. Serves me right for lending out books that weren’t mine!

Once the internet came along, my business horizons opened up. Near the end of high school, I got hardcore into sewing – if that’s even something you can get ‘hardcore’ into – and built a website to sell my garments. I would stay up until 2am every night deconstructing clothing (or sheets… yes, sheets) that I found for $1 at Goodwill, only to humpty-dumpty them back together again as a cute shrug, skirt, or top. I named my little business Quinntessential Clothing. Note the double “n” in the name. My 17-year-old self would want to make sure you noticed that.

A Quinntessential creation from a Goodwill find.

Ultimately, my childhood foray into business planted the seeds for becoming an entrepreneur years later. Like all good things in life, that seed started with a feeling .

A feeling of excitement and empowerment when people actually wanted what I had created with my own two hands. Better yet, they WANTED to pay me! Whether it was $20 or $200, every cent that I earned was because of my creativity, my ability to turn nothing into something, my skills at communicating value to others (e.g. clothing made from sheets ), and my focus on building something that was meaningful to me.

That feeling would be my motivation when I was older and decided to try my hand at being my own boss, but we have to take a few detours before we get there…

To Be or Not to Be (An Actress?)

Growing up, I always had a clear sense of purpose for who I wanted to be: a successful actress. I just knew that I was going to walk red carpets and make people cry because of my powerful performances. Yes – you read that right: wearing fancy gowns and making people cry were my life goals. #priorities

In all seriousness though, acting just made sense for me: I loved stories, I loved characters, and most of all, I loved attention. Shine that spotlight on me, puh-leaze!

Bolstered by the belief that acting was my true north, I did what any sane, naive, idealistic young girl would do: I packed my bags and hightailed it straight to Los Angeles. The City of Angels. The City of Stars. The City of I’d-prefer-death-by-melting-in-the-Arizona-heat-than-sit-in-any-more-traffic.

I majored in Theatre Arts at Loyola Marymount University, a lovely liberal arts college situated on a bluff in West L.A., offering a glimpse of the ocean on one side and the Hollywood sign on the other – or at least it did when the pollution cleared. I found my tribe in the colorful, flamboyant, and kooky Theatre Majors and immersed myself in the art of The The-ay-ter (say it like that and you sound smart) .

my entrepreneurial journey

Acting and theatre became my life – I thought about it, read about it, saw it, performed it, and loved every second of it. I even traveled across the pond to foggy ol’ London town to study at an acting conservatory there, seeing 2-3 plays a week and coming to realize that my real place in the world of acting was on stage, not the screen.

Now, if you were worried about me giving up my red carpet dreams, don’t be, being on the stage still gave me the I-make-people-cry thing, so I was doing okay. What I discovered that was much more fulfilling in theatre vs. film was that it was about total transformation – using the voice, breath, and physicality. It required full embodiment of a character, not just an eyebrow raise or a carefully placed tear in a film close-up.

When It All Falls Down

Let’s jump forward 5 years, when I took my very last bow as an actress. I had just given the best performance of my life but I was done. I had come to realize that I had no desire to do that for a living, nor live the life of an aspiring actress in L.A..

If I was sitting with you in a dark lounge with a bottle (or two) of wine, I’d be happy to tell you the full story of how I came to this realization, but I’ll spare you the details and let you fill in the gaps as you may.

All you really need to know is that it involved an ornery British director, a play that probed the mysteries of existence, a grueling rehearsal period, too many Camel Crush cigarettes, and a fiery demon character that I played named Lilith. Look her up , she’s a hoot.

Now you’re probably wondering – “Really, one bad experience that led to your best performance and you just gave up that easily?! You had great things ahead of you!”

Well, first – thank you for your concern.

  And second, let me explain…

My director had a knack for going after me during rehearsal. He would constantly stop me mid-line, tell me I was doing it wrong, and make me repeat it until I got it “right.”

I would have never said it back then, but I was grateful for him at the same time that I hated him with a passion. He forced me to get out of my head and learn what real acting was. One night I remember in particular, when he got so fed up with me that he stopped and pointedly asked:

“Quinn, what do you think acting is?”

My all-girls-Catholic-high-school education meant that I presented a perfectly polite answer, something along the lines of acting as “embodiment,” with “storytelling” and “emotion” thrown in for extra credit.

  “Showing the truth about humanity,” I threw out there with increasing politeness which grew parallel with my anxiety.

After a good 10 minutes of back and forth, he finally yelled at me and said “It’s so simple and you’re missing it. Acting is being real. And you aren’t being real up there. You’re not reacting in the moment, you’re reacting in your head and performing that reaction. You’re just full of bullshit.”

But, he was right. He saw deep into my core and expose an element of who I was that felt like a fraud, a fake, a performer. I didn’t know how to be real or raw, in fact, that scared me more than anything else – on stage and off. Although I was able to tap into real moments on stage, this experience went way beyond acting for me.

It drew me deeper into myself, asking big questions about who I was, what I truly wanted to do, and how I wanted to live in the world.

Living the Sweet Life

For the next 2 years, I utterly failed at answering those questions in the slightest. My identity had been so tied up in acting and theatre, and I suddenly was thrust into the real world without that anchor and without much forethought of what else I could or wanted to do with my life.

So naturally, I got a job doing the next best thing to acting: marketing.

I figured it was pretty similar to theatre. After all, they both ask the same question: How do you tell a story authentically in order to move people? In theatre, you move them to tears or laughter, in marketing – you move them to take action.

I took an intern position with an all-female promotional staffing agency called Sweet Deal. It had initially started as a female casino dealing company (hence the name) and had expanded into staffing for events and experiential marketing programs for consumer products.

I did a little bit of everything. Graphic design, cold calling, managing events, admin work, and even dealing craps, poker, and blackjack. I had a lot of fun with it at first. We got to interview and ‘cast’ spokesmodels for different brands, attend crazy parties around Hollywood (yes, I’ve been to the Playboy Mansion…thrice) , and try all kinds of cool products.

my entrepreneurial journey

I can honestly say that I learned all the fundamentals (and more) about marketing and sales in this job and I’m forever grateful because I wouldn’t have been able to start my own business without the experience.

When Sweet Goes Sour

I quickly became an integral part of the company. The problem was that I was always “on call.” The more my role grew, the more I was managing and the more moving parts there were.

I remember clients calling me at 1am, screaming at me that their spokesmodels were late and other things like “where is the vodka!?”

I remember setting up business meetings with prospective clients, only to find out they were sleazy men who just wanted to grab a drink with a young girl and try to lure her to his private SuperBowl suite across the country that weekend (all while his female assistant watched).

I remember not knowing how to have boundaries between my work life and my personal life. In fact, any semblance of a personal life disappeared as I poured myself into my role.  

My relationships suffered, my health suffered, my mind suffered, and ultimately, I landed in the hospital with a severe case of mono.

Now, if you jumped to conclusions that I must have been kissing a lot of boys to get mono that bad, then – my dear reader – you would be spot on.

But moreso than that – I was extremely stressed, constantly on edge, barely sleeping, and not taking care of myself in the least. So it wasn’t a surprise when the doctors told me only 3% of adults get mono as severe as I did, and that what I needed was REST.

my entrepreneurial journey

Two Roads Diverged

REST?! Not me! I don’t need it! Instead, how about I take a full-time employee position at my company less than a month after getting out of the hospital? That sounds perfect!

After all, I had gotten so good at playing a part again. The play was my life and I was the leading lady. Except this time, I had no idea what my lines were. I sashayed my way through a fake performance, never knowing the deep scars I was cutting.

It’s weird how the most mundane of moments get seared into your brain forever. I will always remember the feeling of the bristly carpet under my bare feet, me sitting on the edge of my four-poster bed in the middle of my teal-painted bedroom. I was talking to my mom about my decision to become an employee, and although I don’t remember what words were said, I do vividly remember how I felt.

A visceral, physical feeling of NO, as if I had done an intense upper-body workout the day before and someone was pulling back on those sore, tired arms while I struggled to pull myself forward and away from the grasp.

I didn’t know at the time that my body could say no without me thinking it.

I didn’t know that this visceral wrestling match should have been a warning sign from the start. I didn’t know what I didn’t know I should know.

I just kept pushing without realizing how far gone I really was.

my entrepreneurial journey

Looking back, I clearly see how a different path could have formed in that moment of dread. How I could have started painting the dots that would have connected me to where I am now just a little bit sooner, starting right there with that carpet kissing my soles.

But, just as we can’t connect the dots of our lives looking forward, I couldn’t see clearly where my path would go, so I soldiered on. After all, I hadn’t hit rock bottom yet. Maybe I was curious what I would find there.

Why is there a Rock at the Bottom?

Nearly a year later, I was in a car with my parents and a trunk full of my possessions, heading back to my hometown of Phoenix.

If rock bottom is supposed to be a good, long cry on the bathroom floor, praying for a voice from the heavens to tell you what to do – well, that ain’t my rock bottom.

My rock bottom was taking a hard fall off my bike and feeling no pain, no adrenaline rush, nothing except the warm drip of blood down my leg.

My rock bottom was the stress you might get when stumbling upon a wild lion with its teeth bared – except the lion was the buzz of my phone and my body was conditioned to fear it.

My rock bottom was watching the barren landscape between L.A. and Phoenix fly by as I left the life I knew for the life I wasn’t sure I wanted to arrive at.

My rock bottom was a minefield of black holes and implosions.

There’s a Light

If I were to throw a theme party for what happened next in my life, I would make everyone dress in white and pretend to be onions. And because that’s NOT a real-world party people would actually attend (or would they?) and a weird analogy to begin with, let me clarify: the theme of the next stage of my live was peeling away the layers of trauma, of numbness, of lethargy, of illness and of ambivalence.

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had left behind the career I thought I’d always have, I failed at the career I tried to have, and I was left with a shell of my former energetic, creative self.

my entrepreneurial journey

I had been exposed to deeper questions about life and meaning through my last real acting role, but I had pushed away searching for the answers away for years.

The bad thing was: I was starting from scratch.

The good thing was: I was starting from scratch.

In my attempt to start over, I did two things that made all the difference.

First, I started a blog called Urban Soul Retrieval, designing it from scratch and teaching myself web design in the process. I wrote about my experience in depth, connected with like-minded strangers on the web, and made sense of the decisions that led me to despair. My blog showed me that I could shape my story and reclaim it as my own instead of letting it write me.

The second thing I did was lots and lots of YOGA.

I had practiced yoga and off for a few years in L.A., as one does when you live in L.A..

It was the one thing in my life that made me feel really good . After a nice long stretch, I could suddenly feel a lightness that I hadn’t been able to access in so long. With a glimmer of hope coming back into my life, I followed my curiosity and enrolled in a year-long yoga teacher training.

It became the most transformative experience of my life.

At Yoga Pura (it translates to yoga “home”), everything was an experiment. It was about posing a question – who am I? – and using our minds and bodies to find clarity. My buttons were pushed, my body was stretched, and my mind was completely transformed.

my entrepreneurial journey

It wasn’t the slightest bit fluffy or woo-woo either, in case you were wondering.

I’ve experienced the gamut of yoga studios across the country – from New Age to hardcore physical to cultish – and this one was unique. The studio owner and my main teacher was an army veteran, goatee-wearing, motorcycle-riding, chihuahua-owning man. He was blunt, extremely logical and smart, sometimes harsh, and totally empowering.

He led us to explore big things – existence itself – and small things – how to align your foot in Warrior II (and why that might help you with the big things). Through the physical practice, I built back the strength I had lost from my illness and neglect. Through the mental practice, I started to feel less like I was outside of myself.

And through it all, I was forced to face my truth for maybe the first time ever. I became intimately familiar with the swirling madness of my mind – and learned to identify thoughts and beliefs that had shaped who I had become, both the good and the bad.  

We don’t often get the chance to sit and face our humanity head-on. To look at the dots that brought us to this moment we are in right now, and to draw the dots that lead us into the future we envision.

But, I’m forever grateful that I did face it – however gut-wrenching and hard it was – because what it led to was more than I could have asked for.

The Pen that Began it All

If you’ve made it this far, dear reader, you may be wondering where the entrepreneur part comes in? This is my entrepreneurial journey story after all! So, here we are at the very beginning…

During my year in yoga teacher training, I am at a coffee shop in North Phoenix and a man sitting at a nearby table is on the phone. He stands up looking for a pen to jot something down that the person on the other end is saying, so I gladly offer him mine. His call ends and he thanks me, returning my pen. We get to talking and he points at my computer and asks, “What are you working on today?” And I tell him “Just working on a graphic design for my blog.” He says “Oh, well perfect – I’m looking for a graphic designer! What’s your hourly rate?”

I threw out a number that I heard from someone once, and right there and then, he became my first client for a business I didn’t even have, but I sure as hell was going to figure out! The conversation was all-in-all maybe 5 minutes long, but it is the foundation of the business I have ran for 7 years now.

I didn’t have a plan to become an entrepreneur, but now that I am one, I know that it’s what I was always meant to be.

Fun fact: I met my husband a few years later the same way. This time, I was the one that needed a pen and he was the one to lend it to me. We’ve been together ever since, but that’s a story for another time…

We’re Back in Business

I continued to build a nice little roster of clients that kept me busy while finishing up my yoga program. I had always been a self-taught designer, so I continued to refine my skills and enrolled in a few online courses to learn the basics of two new design programs. By the time I graduated, I had enough work to go full-time with my business.

I moved into my own little studio apartment in Central Phoenix and felt a whole new me emerging – a creative, empowered freelancer who could pay my own bills through a business I had built! I felt the same rush when I signed a new client that I did when I sold my $20 beaded snake to the neighborhood boy or a handmade clothing piece from my high school website.

my entrepreneurial journey

I started integrating my marketing experience into my design services, and soon after signed on a big retainer client. I became their Marketing Manager, leading their digital marketing program – creating content, managing social media, and developing strategies for big corporate clients. The CEO (and one of my favorite people) thought I would be a good speaker with my theatre background (and natural flair for the dramatic), so I began teaching content marketing workshops around the country.

I also continued to work with small business owners and entrepreneurs on their creative projects. From yoga teachers to artists, adventure coaches to creative, I took their ideas and brought them to life.

I observed what made entrepreneurs tick, what drove them to start their business, who they wanted to serve, and what impact they wanted to make in the world. And then I got to take all of that goodness from inside their heads and use my skillset to transform it into a platform – a brand, a website, a digital strategy – that would help them realize the deeper vision they held for themselves.

I noticed that the entrepreneurs who found the most success were the ones that were laser-focused on that deeper vision – on their purpose. They were more empowered, more assured of the value of their work, and more able to make an impact to those they wanted to serve.

I got a tingly magical feeling whenever I worked with entrepreneurs who were purpose-driven, because it was that much easier and fulfilling for me to help them bring their ideas to life. I knew I had latched onto something good…

The Big Leap

After 5 years with my biggest client, I made a big decision to move on.

I had become their Director of Marketing, was traveling to speak regularly and had built up a reputation as a content marketing expert. I had always been able to do everything as a contractor, so I could continue my creative work with entrepreneurs that I was so passionate about. But the amount of mental and physical energy it took had finally brought me place where I had a choice: go full-time and commit myself more fully or move on.

my entrepreneurial journey

I chose to move on. I will forever be grateful for the experience because of the expertise I built in digital marketing and for the fact that I learned what it meant to bring ideas to life at a huge scale.

But, I had an itch to build something of my own, and for the first time, I had the confidence and know-how to create it for myself.

I wanted to write in my own voice about things I felt were important in today’s world.

To speak to women and work with entrepreneurs who want to build a business and a life they have always envisioned but for whatever reason have been held back.

I wanted to inspire people to uncover their purpose and bring it to life through their business.

To heal the parts of themselves they have ignored for so long.

To be aware of the traps that hide along their journey and know how to NOT fall into them  

To integrate their life and business and become fully embodied and EMPOWERED  

To create a platform for like-minded people across the world to share, connect, and learn from each other what it means to live and breathe their purpose daily.

What’s Next?

That brings me to this paragraph in this very first blog post on my new website. This site is the manifestation of a lifelong journey. It feels like an accomplishment in itself, yet I know that it’s also only the beginning of my journey, and hopefully yours alongside me.

If I’ve come to learn anything through writing and reclaiming my own narrative, it’s that living life with purpose is the key to empowerment. Our purpose is shaped by our experiences. It’s chiseled by pain. Informed by joy. And brought to life through intention.

Our business can be the channel to bring our purpose to life and make an impact on the world in a way it needs it most and the way we uniquely can.

So thank you for being here and reading my story. Together, let’s create a life of meaning and significance. On purpose.

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I’m an oldie……………….and reading your story has empowered me to think, feel, and explore. I’m touched. I love you.

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Cool story. Thanks for sharing. It’s always cool to read how people find their purpose and not be afraid to push themselves to work hard for what they love.

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Thanks for reading! It was a winding path for sure, but I wouldn’t trade it 🙂

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my entrepreneurial journey

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Lessons Learned: Key Takeaways from My Entrepreneurial Journey

May 9, 2023

 Lessons Learned: Key Takeaways from My Entrepreneurial Journey

Embarking on the path of entrepreneurship can be an exhilarating, albeit challenging, adventure. Over the years, I've encountered numerous trials and triumphs, each contributing valuable lessons to my overall growth and development as a business owner. 

In this edition of The Fearless Business Blog , I'll be sharing some of the invaluable lessons I've learned throughout my entrepreneurial journey, delving into how they have shaped my mindset and contributed to my overall success. By understanding and applying these key takeaways, you too can navigate your own entrepreneurial endeavours with greater confidence and clarity.

Key Takeaways on My Entrepreneurial Journey

  • Embrace failure as a learning opportunity : Understand that failures are an essential part of growth and can provide valuable lessons for future success.
  • Build a strong support network : Surround yourself with like-minded individuals who can offer guidance, encouragement, and collaboration as you navigate your entrepreneurial journey.
  • Prioritise personal well-being : To maintain peak performance and avoid burnout, it's crucial to find a healthy work-life balance and prioritise self-care.
  • Deliver value to your customers : Focus on providing exceptional products and services that solve real problems for your clients and exceed their expectations.
  • Stay adaptable and resilient: The entrepreneurial landscape is ever-changing, so it's essential to remain flexible and resilient in the face of challenges and evolving circumstances.
  • Continuously learn and grow : Invest in your personal and professional development to stay at the forefront of your industry and maintain a competitive edge.

Want to Close Bigger Deals?

1. Embrace Failure as a Learning Opportunity

One of the most critical lessons I've learned is that failure is an essential part of the journey. When we experience setbacks or disappointments, it's vital to recognise them as opportunities to learn and grow. By embracing failure as a stepping stone towards improvement, you'll be better equipped to adapt, pivot, and ultimately achieve your desired outcomes. Furthermore, acknowledging that failure is inevitable allows you to approach it with curiosity and resilience, using each setback as a chance to refine your strategies and strengthen your resolve.

2. Build a Strong Support Network

No entrepreneur can succeed in isolation. Building a robust support network of mentors, peers, and like-minded individuals can be a game-changer in your entrepreneurial journey. These connections not only provide guidance and encouragement but also help you stay accountable and motivated. Make it a priority to join networking groups, attend industry events, and engage with fellow entrepreneurs through social media platforms. In addition, consider forming or joining a mastermind group, where you can regularly share ideas, resources, and support with like-minded individuals who are also on their entrepreneurial journey.

3. Prioritise Your Personal Wellbeing

It's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of entrepreneurship, often neglecting our own mental and physical wellbeing . However, maintaining a healthy work-life balance is crucial for long-term success. Schedule time for self-care, exercise, and relaxation, ensuring that you are at your best when making important decisions and driving your business forward. Moreover, be mindful of burnout and the negative effects of chronic stress on your overall health. By prioritising your wellbeing, you'll not only foster greater personal satisfaction but also boost your productivity and effectiveness in your professional life.

4. Master Your Mindset

Developing a positive and resilient mindset is fundamental to overcoming obstacles and achieving success as an entrepreneur. Recognise your limiting beliefs and replace them with empowering thoughts that propel you towards your goals. By cultivating a mindset of abundance, confidence, and determination, you'll be better equipped to handle challenges and seize opportunities that come your way. Additionally, practice gratitude and focus on the positive aspects of your journey, as this will help you maintain an optimistic outlook and foster a greater sense of fulfilment.

5. Invest in Continuous Learning

In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, it's essential to stay ahead of the curve by continually updating your knowledge and skills. Dedicate time to learning about industry trends, mastering new tools, and refining your craft. By committing to lifelong learning, you'll ensure that you remain agile, innovative, and competitive in your chosen field. Furthermore, consider investing in professional development opportunities, such as workshops, courses, and certifications, to expand your expertise and enhance your credibility in the eyes of your clients and peers.

6. Focus on Providing Value

One of the most effective ways to stand out in a crowded market is by consistently delivering value to your customers. Focus on understanding your target audience's needs and pain points, and tailor your products or services to address these challenges. By establishing yourself as a trusted and reliable solution provider, you'll foster loyalty, drive repeat business, and ultimately grow your enterprise. Additionally, prioritise exceptional customer service and consistently exceed your clients' expectations. By nurturing strong relationships with your customers, you'll not only enhance your reputation but also generate valuable word-of-mouth referrals.

7. Cultivate Resilience and Adaptability

The entrepreneurial landscape is ever-evolving, requiring business owners to be adaptable and resilient in the face of change. Embrace change as an opportunity to grow and evolve, rather than a threat to your existing strategies. Stay informed about industry developments and market shifts, and be prepared to pivot when necessary. By demonstrating flexibility and resilience, you'll be better positioned to capitalise on new opportunities and weather any storm that comes your way.

8. Establish Clear Goals and Measure Progress

Setting clear, specific, and measurable goals is vital to tracking your progress and maintaining focus on your entrepreneurial journey. Break down your long-term objectives into smaller, actionable steps, and continually assess your progress to ensure you stay on track. Regularly reviewing and adjusting your goals will help you stay aligned with your vision and make informed decisions about the direction of your business. Moreover, celebrate your milestones and accomplishments along the way, as this will boost your motivation and remind you of the progress you've made.

9. Delegate and Outsource

As your business grows, it becomes increasingly challenging to manage all aspects of your operations single-handedly. Learn to delegate and outsource tasks, allowing you to focus on your core competencies and higher-value activities. By entrusting specific tasks to skilled team members or external professionals, you'll not only enhance efficiency but also free up time to strategise and drive your business forward.

10. Embrace the Power of Collaboration

Collaboration can be a powerful catalyst for growth and innovation in your entrepreneurial journey. Seek out partnerships and joint ventures that align with your values and objectives, enabling you to expand your reach, leverage complementary skills, and unlock new opportunities. By embracing collaboration and pooling resources with like-minded entrepreneurs, you'll be better positioned to scale your business and achieve long-term success.

FAQs on Lessons for Entrepreneurs

As you embark on your entrepreneurial journey, you'll likely encounter numerous challenges and opportunities for growth. To help you navigate this exciting and sometimes daunting path, we've compiled a list of frequently asked questions and their answers. In this FAQ section, we'll explore valuable insights and advice gleaned from years of experience, addressing topics such as learning from failure, building a support network, prioritising well-being, delivering customer value, and more. By understanding these key takeaways, you'll be better equipped to overcome obstacles and achieve success in your entrepreneurial endeavours.

How do I learn from failure and turn it into a valuable experience?

Embrace failure as an opportunity to gain valuable insights and grow both personally and professionally. Analyse what went wrong, identify areas for improvement, and apply these lessons to future endeavours. Developing a growth mindset will help you view failures as stepping stones towards success, rather than setbacks.

How can I build a strong support network?

Begin by connecting with like-minded entrepreneurs, mentors, and industry professionals through networking events, online forums, and social media platforms. Seek out individuals who share your values and can provide guidance, encouragement, and constructive feedback. Additionally, consider joining mastermind groups or enrolling in relevant courses to further expand your network and gain valuable insights.

How can I prioritise my well-being while running a business?

Develop a daily routine that incorporates self-care practices such as regular exercise, healthy eating, and sufficient sleep. Schedule downtime and set boundaries between your personal and professional life to prevent burnout. Remember that taking care of your physical and mental well-being is crucial for maintaining productivity and achieving long-term success.

Why is it essential to focus on delivering value to my customers?

By consistently providing value to your customers, you'll enhance customer satisfaction, loyalty, and trust in your brand. This focus on value can lead to repeat business, positive word-of-mouth referrals, and long-term success. Ensure that your products or services cater to your target audience's needs and continuously improve your offerings based on customer feedback.

How can I cultivate resilience and adaptability in my entrepreneurial journey?

Stay informed about industry developments, market shifts, and emerging trends to anticipate change and capitalise on new opportunities. Embrace change as a chance for growth, and be prepared to pivot your strategies or business model when necessary. By demonstrating flexibility and resilience, you'll be better positioned to navigate challenges and achieve long-term success.

What's the best way to delegate and outsource tasks in my business?

Begin by identifying tasks that can be delegated or outsourced, such as administrative duties, social media management, or content creation. Then, entrust these tasks to skilled team members or external professionals who specialise in the required areas. This approach allows you to focus on your core competencies and higher-value activities while ensuring your business runs efficiently.

How can I leverage the power of collaboration to grow my business?

Identify potential partners or collaborators who share your values and objectives, and explore opportunities for joint ventures, partnerships, or co-marketing initiatives. By pooling resources, skills, and knowledge with like-minded entrepreneurs, you can unlock new opportunities, expand your reach, and drive innovation in your business.

In conclusion, entrepreneurship is a journey filled with challenges, growth, and transformation. By learning from and applying these key takeaways, you can navigate your own path with greater confidence and resilience. Embrace failure as a learning opportunity, build a strong support network, prioritise your wellbeing, and continually invest in your personal and professional development. Stay focused on delivering value, embrace change, and leverage the power of collaboration to propel your business to new heights. Remember, your entrepreneurial journey is unique, and the lessons you learn along the way will ultimately shape your success and fulfilment.

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The entrepreneurial journey

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Stuart Crainer examines the starting points of the entrepreneurial journey and some of the key stages along the way.

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For any entrepreneur, the route from idea to established business is a long and winding one. Stuart Crainer examines the starting points of the journey and some of the key stages along the way with London Business School’s latest wave of founders.

This article is provided by the Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Entrepreneurial journey

Points of departure

Esin Akan spent more than a decade working for some of the world’s best known fashion brands — Burberry, Jaeger, Anya Hindmarch and Duchamp. She worked in Paris, Milan, London and Istanbul. And then the real journey began. “I used to work for Burberry handling the global sourcing of leather handbags. While I was working for the company my friends and family always requested different products to the products we actually had. Later, I did some research and found that there is unmet demand for a different type of product for working professionals. I decided to pursue the opportunity.” Esin Akan’s eponymous company was created in December 2012, and launched in May 2013, aiming to offer customised luxury handbags to bag a share of the 200 billion euro global luxury goods market ( www.esinakan.com ).  

Every business starts with something. It might be an idea or the germ of an idea. It might be a thing, a world-changing product, a smart enhancement to something which already exists. It might be a dream, a desire to shake up the status quo, to change things.

Meet Shivani Parmar ( www.shivspix.com ), a habitual builder of brands, businesses and ideas. “I’ve always been into building things. I didn’t know there was a word for it. But when I was eight I was making greeting cards and selling them to neighbours. When I was in college I created a global health magazine, which ten years later is still running. I was the photographer for the US Olympic rowing team. It wasn’t a job that you applied for. I just went to the team and said I’d like to do this, and they liked my work enough to let me stick around. I’m doing what I’ve always been doing and I guess it’s called entrepreneurship.”

Her new venture is good news. Literally. “The idea is if you look around you’re constantly surrounded by bad news and actually there's a lot of amazing people doing remarkable things in the world and you just never hear about them. And so our goal is to share these stories and offer support to people doing these things, so whether it’s training to win an Olympic gold medal, win the Boat Race or whatever it may be, bringing some of these untold stories to the public.”

Other entrepreneurs smartly connect two circling dots. Neil Daly and Julian Hall are founders of Skin Analytics ( www.skin-analytics.com ). “Skin Analytics was born out of the idea that there are so many smartphones in the hands of people all around the world now and there’s a real opportunity for us to use the power of those smartphones and run some analytics on data that people can collect,” says Daly. “We thought about that for a while and realised that there’s a lot of health problems that just get diagnosed purely on a visual basis. So by using the smartphone’s camera and doing the analytics in the backend, we’re able to try and detect skin cancer earlier. So that’s how the idea came up.”

Skin Analytics uses cutting-edge image processing algorithms, developed in partnership with leading academics from the University of Cambridge. The algorithms allow it to detect and track changes in key properties of moles over long periods of time just using images taken at home with a digital camera or smartphone. Dots connected. For other entrepreneurs, the point of departure is that they have been in situations where things could have been better. Dissatisfied, they have set off to do something about it. Perhaps the best known examples of this phenomena are Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman, Nike’s founders. As distance runners they had suffered the pain and performance-limiting discomfort of poor quality running shoes.

Advice for travellers

Whether inspired by a compelling dream or mounting exasperation with the products currently available, before departing on the entrepreneurial journey, it is worth being reminded of the sometimes harsh rules of the road. There are a host of advisory notices for would-be travellers. “Most opportunities are not what they appear to be, as the business failure statistics demonstrate. Most of them have at least one fatal flaw that renders them vulnerable to all sorts of difficulties that can send a precarious, cash-starved new venture to the scrap heap in a heartbeat,” warns John Mullins of London Business School and author of The New Business Road Test and co-author of Getting to Plan B . “An abundance of research makes it clear that the vast majority of new ventures fail for opportunity-related reasons:

  • Market reasons : perhaps the target market is too small or simply won’t buy
  • Industry reasons : it’s too easy for competition to steal your emerging market
  • Entrepreneurial team reasons : the team may lack what it takes to cope with the wide array of forces that conspire to bring fledgling entrepreneurial ventures to their knees.”

First steps

Businesses start with a bright idea, a glimpse of a gap in the market, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And then what? Well, then you have to make it happen. But where? Perhaps ironically, sometimes claustrophobically and often hugely successfully, the entrepreneurial journey often begins by not going anywhere.

For some entrepreneurs, the answer is a cupboard under the stairs, or the spare bedroom. For others the answer is the garage. The garage at 367 Addison Avenue, Palo Alto, was the birthplace of Hewlett-Packard. Walt Disney’s Uncle Robert’s wooden garage in North Hollywood was the unostentatious base for Walt Disney when he arrived in California in 1923. He paid $1 a week for the garage which has now been moved en masse to a museum.

Many others have followed the route from idea to garage and beyond. Elsewhere, Henry Ford turned a coal shed into a garage to start his business. Joseph Cyril Bamford started up in business in 1945 in a lock-up garage in Uttoxeter. His first product was created from war surplus and was sold for £90. This laid the foundation for the JCB company which has been making the earth move ever since.

The garage stage on the entrepreneurial journey is a time for tinkering, tweaking and thinking. Few businesses make an instant leap from idea to actual business. At this point ideas and models are incubated, products and services are prototyped and tested, business plans are honed, potential customers are talked to, markets analysed, locations weighed up and much more. Preparation is everything.

For many entrepreneurs this can be a period of eye-opening realisation. The world is not breathlessly awaiting their arrival. It is getting along very well without them. What customers actually want is not quite the same as what you had in mind. Plan A becomes Plan B.

Shivani Parmar’s recent experience as the photographer of the US Olympic rowing team was a vital stage in her journey to beginning an entrepreneurial venture. Talking to potential customers she was surprised that people weren’t especially interested in having one-on-one contact and conversations with athletes. “People love the photos and videos, but what they really love is that the athletes are quite candid. It’s not something that a PR person has written.

“We started off thinking it would be interesting to people aspiring to achieve similar goals. But it’s turned out to be a full range. People who have just started out in certain sports say why talk to someone who’s at my stage when I could see what Olympic athletes are doing? That was a bit of a surprise for us.”

Incubation time

It is at this point on the entrepreneurial journey that the need for support and re-assurance, as well as sometimes crushingly honest feedback, is felt most. It is as if the explorer has set off for a far flung land and then realises that they haven’t thought about what they are taking or, sometimes, where they are going.

Incubation provides a hot house of ideas, shared experiences and vital feedback. NeuroLogic Medical Solutions (www.neurologicmed.com) is among the businesses incubated at London Business School’s Incubation Unit. “My background is in bio-medical engineering. I’ve been working with a couple of neurosurgeons in Calgary, Canada where I’m from since I was an undergraduate,” says NeuroLogic’s Justin Waghray. “We have been working on different ideas that could have potential. My goal was that by the time I graduated in 2010 I wanted to create a company that I could work full-time on. That was a bit ambitious but we didn’t really know what it took to get funding, to get the proper systems in place, to actually have a sustainable business.

“Being in an atmosphere like the incubator really gives you a chance to talk about shared experience. If you’re looking for somebody to hire for website design you can get an introduction from somebody who’s gone through three website designers and likes the third one. It is also useful to have senior people in place who have been through the process before and who know how to guide you.” Shivani Parmar’s fledgling business is also in the incubator. “Every business is trying to figure out many of the same things at the same time, and so if you can ask quickly, how do you do this, how do you do that, it makes things a lot faster,” she says. “And then of course there’s just the logistics of you have an office, you don’t have to worry about I need electricity or internet or all those details. You can just focus on building the business.”

Sounding boards

Part of incubation and the process by which any business makes the leap from idea to reality is feedback and robust interrogation of what it is the business will do, its business model and how it is differentiated from the competition. It is here that mentors can be crucial in a business’ development. The Deloitte Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at London Business School presents annual Founder Awards to students who have started their entrepreneurial journey at the school. Among the 2012 winners were Esin Akan, NeuroLogic Medical Solutions, PlayEnable and Shivani Parmar. The winning start-ups — spanning social entrepreneurship, fashion, health and medicine, fitness and sport — receive a package of support which includes a year-long place in London Business School’s Incubator, a small cash injection and mentoring from Deloitte and London Business School faculty.

Paul Fletcher, a partner in the London practice of Deloitte, acts as a mentor — his recent mentees include the crowdfunding platform CrowdBank. “It’s refreshing for us to be exposed to entrepreneurs at all stages of growth. It always reminds us of what business is about and what being a business advisor is truly about. Actually, it’s why most of us got into the business in the first place: wanting to be a business advisor and to help people grow their businesses.” As a mentor to aspiring entrepreneurs, Paul Fletcher identifies three recurring issues:

  • Focus : “Entrepreneurs take risks, see opportunities, and get moving on things. The stimulating part is they do all three of those. Sometimes the challenge is to really help them with their focus on what they need to achieve to break into the market or to define the problem they’re solving for other businesses or people.”
  • Resources : “Entrepreneurs commonly underestimate the resources they will need — in terms of people, networks, relationships, as well as more obvious resources such as finance. They often tend to think that they can do a lot of it themselves and overestimate the speed at which they can accomplish things.”
  • Results : “Results matter and so entrepreneurs always have to focus on results. They have got to plan ahead and plan for the near term on delivering the results they need, whether it’s partnering with someone, keeping a key employee or raising the cash they’ll need to get to the next milestone.”

Funding the journey

High on most entrepreneurial agendas is the need for funding. Pitches, business plans, websites and a profusion of other activities have one aim in mind: to attract money either from investors or customers.

Entrepreneurs have a unique relationship with money. For some it is the driving force — though most (publicly at least) say that their motivations are more wide-ranging and noble than mere money. The reality is that studies show that most entrepreneurs make less money in general than their corporate counterparts. For many, money is hard to come by, sometimes impossible. Dauntingly, it has been estimated that less than one per cent of those who submit business plans to business angels, venture capitalists or similar sources of funding will be successful in raising the money they seek.

Whether motivated by money or not, cash is the vital fuel for virtually all entrepreneurial journeys. Support from family and friends, and your own personal savings, are distinctly finite resources. Funding is where reality kicks in. Until investors are attracted or money invested, the business exists chiefly in the imaginations and hard drives of its creators. Funding is where an idea grows up. “Once you’ve got funding then you’re an entrepreneur. Before funding you’re just working on a project,” notes Justin Waghray.

The sheer range of funding options is daunting — angels, venture capitalists, banks and much more. This junction in the entrepreneurial road has numerous potential turnings. The rise of crowdfunding adds a new and bright option.

Alternative routes

Another potential route is proposed by John Mullins. “There seems to be an assumption that if you’re an entrepreneur and want to build a high potential business, what you should do is come up with a great idea, write a business plan, raise some venture capital and two weeks later you’ll be rich. That’s the default idea,” he observes. “But the vast majority of companies that grow to be large and successful never raised any venture capital. So why are we so focused on raising money and putting the investor at the centre of this entrepreneurial phenomenon? I think the person who ought to be at the centre of it is the customer, not the investor.” His latest work looks at businesses which have raised money via customers to develop.

Others go lean. “You hear a lot now about the lean start-up,” says Deloitte’s Paul Fletcher. “A lot of founders are essentially creating concept companies while either keeping their day job or managing to do that and some other activity at the same time. One of the real challenges gets to be commitment; at what point do you depart or leave the day job to join the lean start-up and make it an operating business?

“What’s interesting is that 20 years ago the lean concept idea didn’t exist and most people just said, ‘I’m building it, I'm committed, I’m in’. Now I think entrepreneurs hedge a little bit more to see if they can get traction first in a lean start-up and then there has to be a decision point when they need to commit.”

Lean and hungry is a pithy summary of the entrepreneurial traveller. They have to be. The journey from idea to successful business is always long and inevitably fraught with challenges. Only the truly adventurous need apply.

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7 Life Lessons From My Entrepreneurship Journey Starting a business is tough and challenging on all fronts. Here's some wisdom that may ease your load as you navigate new terrain.

By John Rampton • Feb 23, 2018

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Entrepreneurship can be a tough and long journey for many people. Some get lucky and succeed the first time. For me, that wasn't the case.

I continue to learn and grow. Along the way I picked up the following lessons that I now apply to each new business or project I am involved with:

Related: 5 Tips to Becoming a Disruptive Entrepreneur

1. Innovation can be simple.

For a long time I thought I had to develop something that had never been done before to be successful. While that is somewhat true, sometimes an innovation can be quite simple.

Dollar Shave Club offers men an alternative, affordable way to purchase razors. Pillows.com was started after its founder could not find hotel pillows anywhere to purchase. The creator of OraBrush wanted an alternative to help people with bad breath and fashioned a simple tongue scraper.

These ideas are basic and without any super innovative technology. They fulfill a basic need. Success can come from simple ideas with a twist.

Related: This Innovation Expert's Research Shows How Anyone Can Be Like Elon Musk or Steve Jobs

2. Test and do it now.

Too many times I've thought of an idea and then contemplated various scenarios and how it could play out. I analyzed every aspect and tried to guess and estimate all the contingencies.

That's needed to some extent but the best approach is to just start building and testing an idea. Brainstorm a quick way to put together the most basic form of a product to send to potential customers. This process will result in the best estimates of how the product might fare in the marketplace and provide real feedback to help you polish your idea.

Related: Why Our Brains Like Short-Term Goals

3. Think for the short term and adapt.

In school I was taught to create five-year business plans and outlines. But how can you plan for five years when the landscape changes so rapidly?

Make plans, but stick to the short-term and near future. I now like to plan for six months or a year ahead, depending on the venture. I also do not waste valuable time drafting plans that could be overwritten as circumstances change.

Related: Your Business Has Two Options: Adapt or Die

4. Work hard, play hard.

Stories of extremely hardworking entrepreneurs abound. One hears of 80-hour weeks and the notion that those who don't work all the time are not serious entrepreneurs.

Yes, entrepreneurship is difficult and you must put in work long hours, more than many other people do. But don't sacrifice family, social life and fun. I strongly suggest not sacrificing those things if you're unwilling to.

What if you put in the long hours, neglect your personal life and the business fails? Then you've lost your business and relationships.

Even if your business skyrockets, you may feel locked into work (as I did) and obliged to devoting long hours to its continued growth. Ultimately, this leads to burnout. Can you effectively grow a business if you're burned out and want out?

Manage your time and grant yourself breaks and days off. Take time to socialize and spend time with family and friends. This can help clear your mind so you'll make better decisions or arrive at realizations that you wouldn't have otherwise.

Related: 50 Signs You Might Be an Entrepreneur

5. It's not all about you and your idea .

Take time to serve and help others. My focus on my early businesses led to just me, me, me. This was a lonely experience and it negatively affected me and my businesses.

I've since changed and now continually make time for others. I look for opportunities to assist people and serve. This not only makes me feel better about myself but it helps my business. Karma may exist -- or not -- but definitely more businesses and people are drawn to you when you help them.

Don't expect anything in return. The act has to come from the heart and be completely selfless. Sometimes people you've helped will help you. Other times they will not. No matter what, keep helping and making the time to provide a favor -- or two or 10.

Related: Zig Ziglar and the Importance of Helping Others

6. Don't be a pancake.

I used to describe myself as a pancake: My broad set of skills kept me low and flat. I knew a little about a lot of different industries and expertise.

This is great for managing teams but I consistently found myself being mediocre and not excelling in any area. I wasn't known for anything.

About two years ago I decided to focus on one thing and put a majority of my time and effort into developing that skill and becoming the best in it. I read books and articles, wrote articles about what I learned and networked with experts. This has granted me many opportunities that I would not have been allotted in my pancake state.

When it comes to business, don't try to be good at everything. Keep yourself abreast of other industry practices and skills aligned with your focus and push to develop your skill, product or service to be the best in area that's needed and sought after. Then build out from there.

Related: 8 Hacks to Learn New Skills in Half the Time

7. Celebrate small wins.

Starting a company is hard, growing one is hard and running a one is hard. Doing this day in and day out can be tiresome. Sometimes I feel like I'm not winning or getting anywhere.

Many people celebrate the big wins (when the needle really moves), but what about the small wins?

In your short-term plan, identify small wins to celebrate. Avoid the notion that you have to land some fantastic, outstanding client or reach thousands of customers before celebrating. Rejoice over the first customer or transaction or over squashing a minor coding bug in a few days. Revel in the moment of pushing through three months.

Recognizing small victories can boost your morale and provide a surge of energy. They may alleviate the stress that can drag you down. Fun times help you recognize successes even if they aren't earth-shattering. They provide you with the motivation to keep going.

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  • 2.1 Overview of the Entrepreneurial Journey
  • Introduction
  • 1.1 Entrepreneurship Today
  • 1.2 Entrepreneurial Vision and Goals
  • 1.3 The Entrepreneurial Mindset
  • Review Questions
  • Discussion Questions
  • Case Questions
  • Suggested Resources
  • 2.2 The Process of Becoming an Entrepreneur
  • 2.3 Entrepreneurial Pathways
  • 2.4 Frameworks to Inform Your Entrepreneurial Path
  • 3.1 Ethical and Legal Issues in Entrepreneurship
  • 3.2 Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship
  • 3.3 Developing a Workplace Culture of Ethical Excellence and Accountability
  • 4.1 Tools for Creativity and Innovation
  • 4.2 Creativity, Innovation, and Invention: How They Differ
  • 4.3 Developing Ideas, Innovations, and Inventions
  • 5.1 Entrepreneurial Opportunity
  • 5.2 Researching Potential Business Opportunities
  • 5.3 Competitive Analysis
  • 6.1 Problem Solving to Find Entrepreneurial Solutions
  • 6.2 Creative Problem-Solving Process
  • 6.3 Design Thinking
  • 6.4 Lean Processes
  • 7.1 Clarifying Your Vision, Mission, and Goals
  • 7.2 Sharing Your Entrepreneurial Story
  • 7.3 Developing Pitches for Various Audiences and Goals
  • 7.4 Protecting Your Idea and Polishing the Pitch through Feedback
  • 7.5 Reality Check: Contests and Competitions
  • 8.1 Entrepreneurial Marketing and the Marketing Mix
  • 8.2 Market Research, Market Opportunity Recognition, and Target Market
  • 8.3 Marketing Techniques and Tools for Entrepreneurs
  • 8.4 Entrepreneurial Branding
  • 8.5 Marketing Strategy and the Marketing Plan
  • 8.6 Sales and Customer Service
  • 9.1 Overview of Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting Strategies
  • 9.2 Special Funding Strategies
  • 9.3 Accounting Basics for Entrepreneurs
  • 9.4 Developing Startup Financial Statements and Projections
  • 10.1 Launching the Imperfect Business: Lean Startup
  • 10.2 Why Early Failure Can Lead to Success Later
  • 10.3 The Challenging Truth about Business Ownership
  • 10.4 Managing, Following, and Adjusting the Initial Plan
  • 10.5 Growth: Signs, Pains, and Cautions
  • 11.1 Avoiding the “Field of Dreams” Approach
  • 11.2 Designing the Business Model
  • 11.3 Conducting a Feasibility Analysis
  • 11.4 The Business Plan
  • 12.1 Building and Connecting to Networks
  • 12.2 Building the Entrepreneurial Dream Team
  • 12.3 Designing a Startup Operational Plan
  • 13.1 Business Structures: Overview of Legal and Tax Considerations
  • 13.2 Corporations
  • 13.3 Partnerships and Joint Ventures
  • 13.4 Limited Liability Companies
  • 13.5 Sole Proprietorships
  • 13.6 Additional Considerations: Capital Acquisition, Business Domicile, and Technology
  • 13.7 Mitigating and Managing Risks
  • 14.1 Types of Resources
  • 14.2 Using the PEST Framework to Assess Resource Needs
  • 14.3 Managing Resources over the Venture Life Cycle
  • 15.1 Launching Your Venture
  • 15.2 Making Difficult Business Decisions in Response to Challenges
  • 15.3 Seeking Help or Support
  • 15.4 Now What? Serving as a Mentor, Consultant, or Champion
  • 15.5 Reflections: Documenting the Journey
  • A | Suggested Resources

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

  • Explain the entrepreneurial journey to explore and discover entrepreneurship as a career choice
  • Identify the steps, decisions, and actions involved in the entrepreneurial journey
  • Recognize the rewards and risks of the steps in the entrepreneurial journey

Self-Employment as an Entrepreneurial Journey

When the economy and the job market are strong, the entrepreneur has a safety net that decreases the risks in creating a new venture , a startup company or organization that conducts business or is created to satisfy a need, and allows for a quick recovery if the venture is not successful. There are more new startups when there are high levels of confidence in both the venture’s success and the entrepreneur’s confidence in finding employment if the venture fails. People over 40 years of age account for most new startup activity, in part because of the continuing trend in which a business may choose not to hire an employee but instead hire an independent contractor , a person who provides work similar to an employee without being part of the payroll for the contracting business, and who is responsible for paying their own taxes and providing their own benefits. With previous knowledge and expertise, this group of entrepreneurs recognizes opportunities created by this move away from hiring full-time employees to more outsourcing to independent contractors. One contributor is the gig economy , which involves using temporary and often transitional positions hired on a case-by-case basis, rather than keeping a full staff of hired employees. Advantages for the employer include a decrease in cost of benefits and loyalties to specific employees. Advantages for the hired worker or independent contractor (sometimes called a freelancer ) include no long-term commitment and flexibility in accepting contracts. From an entrepreneurial perspective, the creation of websites that support the gig economy offers opportunities for independent ventures. Many people today are becoming small entrepreneurs. This process goes by a variety of names, such as the sharing economy , the gig economy, the peer economy , or the collaborative economy . Maybe it means driving for a company such as Lyft , Uber , or GrubHub , or perhaps offering services through TaskRabbit , UpWork , or LivePerson . The projected numbers of independent contractors and on-demand workers are stated as 42 percent for small businesses by the year 2020, a growth of 8 percent from current figures. 1 And a projection of greater than 50 percent of the workforce will be independent contractors by 2027 if this trend continues at the current pace. 2 In the “Freelancing in America: 2019” report, the sixth annual study by UpWork and Freelancers Union, 57 million United States citizens are estimated to freelance, with income approaching 5 percent of US gross domestic product (GDP) at nearly $1 trillion and earning a median rate of $28.00 an hour, representing an hourly income greater than 70 percent of workers in the overall US economy. 3 One report found that 94 percent of net job growth from 2005 to 2015 was in alternative work categories, with 60 percent due to independent contractors and contract company workers. 4

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of self-employed Americans is growing, with 9.6 million self-employed people at the end of 2016. That number is expected to grow to 10.3 million by 2026. 5 A more recent study by FreshBooks’ second annual “Self-Employment” report predicts that 27 million US employees will leave traditional work in favor of self-employment by 2020, tripling the current population of full-time self-employed professionals to 42 million. The main driver for this change in the workforce is a greater desire for control over one’s career with the ability to have greater control over working hours and acceptance of work. 6 , 7 Of course, self-employment is a broad category that includes small-business owners as well as entrepreneurial startups and freelance gig employees. Since 2016, there has been a downward slide in the number of employees working for self-employed businesses, which results from a variety of factors, including difficulties in finding qualified employees, qualified employees having more employment options, such as employment through the gig economy, outsourcing activities, and technology actions that decrease the need for employees, with entrepreneurial activity remaining steady. 8

Entrepreneurship around the World

In a 2017 Business Insider article, “America Needs Immigrant Entrepreneurs,” David Jolley writes that immigrants constitute 15 percent of the US workforce and 25 percent of the country’s workforce of entrepreneurs. 9 Forty percent of startups include at least one immigrant. Jolley’s article cites a study that identified immigrants as twice as likely to start a business as people born in the United States. In 2016, 40.2 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by at least one immigrant or a child of immigrant parents. Dinah Brin, writing for Forbes , stated in a 2018 article that immigrants form 25 percent of new US businesses and that new immigrant-owned firms generated 4 to 5 million jobs. 10

These statistics and other findings have prompted countries such as Canada to revise their immigration policies to attract more entrepreneurial-minded immigrants. A World Bank report from May 2018 ranked the United States 53rd out of 190 countries for ease in starting a business, with higher scores representing greater ease. 11 The same report ranks the United States eighth for ease of doing business. The difference in these rankings indicates that once a business is established, factors such as regulations, permits, access to credit, and infrastructure support the business owner’s ability to continue the business, but actually starting the business is more challenging. For any given country, ease in starting a business and the country’s interest in supporting entrepreneurial activity are crucial in both attracting entrepreneurial people and supporting their ability to open a business. Imposing restrictive regulations and processes on new ventures significantly decreases the number of new ventures.

According to a 2018/2019 report, the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity worldwide in 2018 was in Angola at 41 percent. 12 Angola’s low-income economy meant fewer employment opportunities, creating pressures to find other ways to earn an income. Guatemala and Chile reported 28 percent and 25 percent of entrepreneurial activity, respectively, with medium- and high-income economies. These percentages are quite high, considering that these economies offer employment opportunities in existing companies. In terms of innovation, India at 47 percent, and Luxembourg and Chile at 48 percent each, take the lead in offering new products and services not previously available. This entrepreneurial activity reflects the ease of starting a business. The Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden were reported as the easiest countries in which to start a new business, in part because many people in those countries view entrepreneurship as an attractive lifestyle. As you can see, both economic opportunities and a country’s specific support for entrepreneurial behavior contribute to the number of people who enter entrepreneurial activities.

From a gender perspective, there are currently over 11 million woman-owned businesses in the United States. This number includes both small business owners and entrepreneurs. Thirty years ago, there were only 4 million woman-owned businesses. 13 The number of woman-owned businesses has increased 45 percent between 2007 and 2016, five times faster than the national average, with 78 percent of new women-owned businesses started by women of color.

Starting Your Entrepreneurial Journey

How do you fit into this entrepreneurial journey? This chapter will help you to explore and discover your potential for entrepreneurship as a career choice. Think of this exploration and discovery experience as a way to map out a strategy to reach your goals or dreams. Let’s imagine that your dream vacation is a hiking trip to Glacier National Park in the US state of Montana. Just as hikers have different levels of experience, so do entrepreneurs. Just as your plan for a wilderness hike would involve many stages, your entrepreneurial journey involves multiple levels of self-discovery, exploration, experiences, and accomplishments on your way to success. For our purposes, the term entrepreneurial venture means any type of new business, organization, project, or operation of interest that includes a level of risk in acting on an opportunity that has not previously been established. For each story of entrepreneurial success that is shared—such as that of Facebook or Airbnb—there are even more lesser-known entrepreneurial success stories such as Zipline , a company that delivers medical supplies in Rwanda and Ghana by drone. These entrepreneurs faced the same dilemmas in pursuing their passion, or opportunities, which led them to their entrepreneurial destiny. They courageously stepped out of their comfort zones to explore the possibilities that lie ahead. What is the difference between entrepreneurs and you? The main difference is taking that first step. Many people have ideas that fit into the definition of an entrepreneurial idea but never take that first step. Just as the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu suggests, every journey begins with a single step.

Are You Ready?

Taking the first step.

Go to Fire Nation’s website on taking the first step to learn more. Changing your mindset (your perception of yourself and your life situation) and encountering trigger events (significant external situations) can nudge you into taking the first step toward being an entrepreneur.

  • Is there a venture you’ve always thought you should start but never did?
  • Think about what factors are stopping you. Consider your mindset and how you might change your mindset so that your venture could become a reality.
  • What are some possible trigger events that could make the difference between starting your venture and waiting to start your venture?

Opening your future to the possibility of starting your own venture brings new and exciting experiences ( Figure 2.2 ). Every entrepreneur moves through several steps in considering the entrepreneurial journey. Once you understand this journey, the steps will help you define your path toward creating and starting your new venture. Each step of this process offers another level of understanding that prepares you for long-term success. How will you achieve this success? By taking one step at a time, exploring and learning, considering new ideas and expectations, and applying these experiences to achieve your personal outcome. Think of the entrepreneurial journey as a guide to knowing what is in store for you as you start your new venture.

One benefit of outlining a step-by-step process is the opportunity to explore different paths or behaviors that may lead to an entrepreneurial venture. Think again of your dream visit to Glacier National Park. How would you get there? What equipment would you need? What kinds of experiences would you expect to have? Think of the Glacier National Park journey as your entrepreneurial journey, a metaphor intended to help you as you create your career as an entrepreneur.

What makes someone ready or willing to choose entrepreneurship over becoming an employee of an established business or a small business owner? It takes confidence, courage, determination, resilience, and some know-how to select entrepreneurship as a career as well as the recognition of the opportunity. An entrepreneur is defined as someone who not only recognizes an opportunity but who also is willing to act on that opportunity. Both actions are required. We might identify an opportunity, but many people do not act on the idea. Confidence, courage, and willingness are necessary to take that first step, as well as remembering the following:

  • You are unique. Even if two similar people attempted to launch identical ventures, the results would likely not be the same. This is because each one of us has different ideas, approaches, available resources, and comfort levels, all of which influence the venture’s development and eventual success.
  • Although there are no hard and fast rules or theories of the best way to launch into entrepreneurship, we can gain wisdom from the lessons learned by experienced entrepreneurs.
  • Selecting an entrepreneurial career requires honesty, reflection, and a tendency to be action oriented. You will need to recognize your own strengths, limitations, and commitment as part of that honesty. Reflection is required for self-growth—seeking improvements in your own skills, interactions, and decision making—and commitment is required to maintain consistency in your willingness to make the new venture a top priority in your life. You will also need to understand that you cannot accomplish everything by yourself, and you may need to ask for help. It helps to be curious, open, and able to take calculated risks and to be resourceful and resilient when faced with challenges or obstacles.

Entrepreneurial Potential Self-Assessment

Take this quick Entrepreneurial Potential Self-Assessment to assess your potential to become an entrepreneur. After completing this self-assessment, what new information did you learn about yourself? Do you think your answers will change as you acquire more life experiences and education? Why or why not?

Optimizing Interest Areas

What are three areas that interest you? These could be hobbies, work activities, or entertainment activities. How would someone else describe your skills and interests, or what you are known for? Answering these questions provides insights into your strengths and interests. Next, what is one area that you are passionate about? What strengths could you bring to this passion to build your own business?

Keep an open mind in looking for an opportunity that fits your strengths and interests. If you decide to explore entrepreneurship, what would be your first step? What are your initial thoughts about being an entrepreneur? What would you review or search to find more information on your idea or area of interest? With whom would you first question or discuss this idea? Why?

The Entrepreneurial Journey as a Trip

The entrepreneurial journey is your exploration to discover if entrepreneurship is right for you. Every entrepreneurial journey is unique; no two individuals will experience it in the same way. Along the way, you will find opportunities and risks coupled with challenges and rewards. It’s useful to think about the entrepreneurial journey as an exciting trip or other adventure. Most of the preparations and steps involved with planning a trip are like those for starting a venture. Just as you would plan and prepare for a trip—starting with inspiration and leading up to finally traveling on the trip—you might follow similar steps to launch a venture. And just as you would prepare for any challenges that you might encounter on a trip—bad weather, lost luggage, or detours—so you should consider potential obstacles or barriers along your entrepreneurial journey ( Figure 2.3 ). Think of these difficulties as opportunities to learn more about the entrepreneurial process—and about yourself and how you manage challenges.

Developing a venture can be an exciting and active experience. It is also a lot of hard work, which can be equally rewarding and enjoyable. Here we present the entrepreneurial journey as seven specific steps, or experiences, which you will encounter along the road to becoming an entrepreneur. You’ll find more information about the entrepreneurial journey in other chapters in this book.

  • Step 1: Inspiration – What is your motivation for becoming an entrepreneur?
  • Step 2: Preparation – Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?
  • Step 3: Assessment – What is the idea you plan to offer through your venture?
  • Step 4: Exploring Resources – What resources and characteristics do you need to make this venture work?
  • Step 5: Business Plan – What type of business structure and business model will your venture have?
  • Step 6: Navigation – In what direction will you take your venture? Where will you go for guidance?
  • Step 7: Launch – When and how will you launch your venture?

As you work through each step of the entrepreneurial journey you should prepare for significant aspects of this experience. You will meet with rewards and challenges, the consequences that result from the decisions made at various points along your journey. To visualize the steps of the entrepreneurial journey, imagine your possible hiking trip to Glacier National Park ( Table 2.1 ). Just as hikers have different levels of experience, so do entrepreneurs. Compare the following aspects of preparing for a hike with aspects of your entrepreneurial journey.

Step 1: Inspiration

When you think of being an entrepreneur, what is the inspiration for your venture? Just as you might have an inspiration for a hiking trip to Glacier National Park, you will have an inspiration behind the decision to become an entrepreneur. When you’re planning a trip to a new and exciting place, one thing you might do is to imagine what you will experience along the journey and on arriving at your destination ( Figure 2.4 ). This portion of the entrepreneurial journey includes imagining yourself as an entrepreneur or as part of an entrepreneurial team. For this stage, you need a creative, open, and innovative state of mind, also known as an entrepreneurial mindset , which is discussed in more detail in The Entrepreneurial Mindset and Creativity, Innovation, and Invention . Dream big about your potential future and opportunities ( Figure 2.5 ).

Step 2: Preparation

Just as when you are preparing for a trip, you need a plan ( Figure 2.6 ) to move forward on your entrepreneurial journey. Before your dream hiking trip, you might gather information about Glacier National Park from a trusted source, such as a good friend with travel experience, or you might conduct online research. Your friend’s feedback could be just the motivation you need to try this experience yourself. Or you might use your research to determine if the trip is possible. You will need to look at maps, either online or on paper. Either way, you might also consider travel and accommodation options, such as booking a flight and finding a place to stay. You might want to create benchmarks to align your journey with your available resources, such as the amount of time and the amount of money you have to spend on the trip. Benchmarking is a method of tracking target expectations with actionable results by comparing one’s own company’s performance with an industry average, a leader within the industry, or a market segment. Benchmarking can help design the trip to meet incremental goals and timelines. From both a travel plan and an entrepreneurial perspective, although benchmarking is used as a control mechanism, we know that situations can arise that require an alteration in the plan, causing the benchmarked items to also need adjustments.

Link to Learning

Which type of benchmarking will help you the most in beginning your entrepreneurial journey? Visit the American Society for Quality’s resource page on benchmarking for help.

To plan for an entrepreneurial journey, you should first conduct some preliminary research regarding your venture idea. Your research must be honest and objective if it is to give you a clear picture of the venture. Next, you might organize and prioritize your research and thoughts. For instance, you might see an idea like yours online or on television, and feel disappointed that someone stole your great idea or beat you to the punch. This is a common occurrence in entrepreneurship, but it should not discourage you. Instead, use that knowledge and energy to find an overlooked or different aspect of your original idea. The difference might even be the focus on a different target market , a specific group of consumers for whom you envision developing a product or service. Further, it is critical to maintain a fluid focus upon expanding the scope of a product or service to uniquely differentiate provisions of benefits apart from existing benefits or those offered by competitors. A focus on a different target market is exactly how the Jitterbug smartphone was created, because it targeted senior citizens. The Jitterbug smartphone offers a larger screen, larger buttons, and simpler features that make it easier for older people to make quick calls or send texts.

Preparation also includes opening space in your life to the time and energy commitment needed to support your new venture. Are the important people in your life willing to support the interest and passion you will need to dedicate the time, energy, and other resources to this new venture? Review the questions shown in ( Figure 2.7 ) to consider your answers to these questions. Preparation through research and other activities is discussed in more detail in Identifying Entrepreneurial Opportunity .

Step 3: Assessment

Now that you have decided where to go for your trip and have gathered information to prepare for it, the next action is to create and set your schedule. This action is simple but critical, because it involves connecting and coordinating information and resources that fit your lifestyle and needs. For example, you might schedule an early-morning Uber or Lyft to the airport and electronic delivery of your plane tickets to your smartphone. For the entrepreneurial journey, this phase might also include recognizing appropriate relationships and gathering needed resources. For many entrepreneurs, the opportunity to receive guidance from trusted advisors or mentors may provide valuable insights on how to manage the process. This step allows for reflection on your idea and intentions. After you’ve done your researching and gathering knowledge about your idea through the preparation step, is the idea still viable? Is the idea still interesting to you? With a better understanding of the industry, your idea, and your own interests that you gained in Step 2, is this idea something that you still want to explore? This step is discussed more fully in Problem Solving and Need Recognition Techniques with deeper coverage on the topic of opportunity recognition ( Figure 2.8 ).

Step 4: Exploring Resources

Regardless of where you might travel, you could not complete your trip without adequate resources such as available financing. There are many ways you might fund a hiking trip: savings, loan, pay-as-you-go, sponsorship (family or friends), or any combination of these options, to name a few. No matter how you finance your trip, it might help to have a balance of available credit and cash on hand to support your day-to-day expenses and any extracurricular activities or even unforeseen emergencies. As discussed in Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting , the US Small Business Administration (SBA) provides funding opportunities.

This scenario is mirrored in the entrepreneurial journey. Just as you wouldn’t begin a trip without adequate resources, including access to cash, you wouldn’t begin your entrepreneurial journey without the necessary resources, including cash. The options between funding a trip and funding a new venture are similar, but they have different names. For example, on a trip, you might use the cash you have on hand, from savings or a personal loan. For an entrepreneurial journey, you might address cash management —management of cash inflows and outflows to support cash needs of the venture—to include bootstrapping , a funding strategy that seeks to optimize use of personal funds and other creative strategies (such as bartering) to minimize cash outflows. (See Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting for more information on bootstrapping.) Bootstrapping includes ideas like leasing instead of purchasing, borrowing resources, or trading unneeded resources for needed ones. Another example of cash management includes a business model that offers subscriptions rather than a payment received for an item purchased. Subscriptions provide the entrepreneur with cash up front, with the buyer receiving benefits throughout the year. Consider the example of Amazon. Amazon offers Prime with a yearly subscription service, as well as Subscribe & Save , Amazon Instant Video , Amazon Mom , and Amazon Web Services , all based on a subscription business model.

According to Entrepreneur.com, other potential subscription-based models include services or products geared to older consumers, with 8,000 people turning sixty-five every day. A similar idea offers services to college students. Both ideas would offer family members a subscription that sends monthly gifts or products to either the elderly person or college student. We also see this model offered to pet owners who pay a monthly subscription to receive treats and toys for the family dog. Looking back at Amazon, we see the company offering the ease of repeat purchases for frequently used products such as vitamins and air filters.

Entrepreneur In Action

Prospurly is a subscription-based company that uses Cratejoy ’s subscription platform to sell small-batch artisanal products for bath, body, and home, marketing a natural lifestyle focused on the happiness of living a simple and appreciated life. Conduct your own research on Prospurly and other subscription-based businesses. Read the article, “How I Built a Subscription Business That’s Made over 50k in 6 Months,” on Cratejoy for more information about this company and Prospurly’s move from ideation to profitability.

Other ideas for finding funding include applying for grant funding. The importance of cash and cash management requires in-depth coverage, which is presented in Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting and Business Structure Options: Legal, Tax, and Risk Issues .

The idea of exploring resources includes many other options besides how to fund a new venture. In a trial run , you would offer your product or service for sale within a limited market on a test basis to evaluate what additional resources are needed to support the success of the venture ( Figure 2.9 ). Examples of places where a trial run fits well, depending on your product, include farmers markets, in-home sales, or through friends and family. The idea is to track the feedback you receive about your product or service. How do people react to the price, the quality of the product, the packaging? You can experiment by selecting one variable to adjust—changing the price, the packaging, the sales pitch, the presentation, or the quantity—to track reactions and make improvements based on this feedback. You may then decide to adjust other variables to gather more information, as well as considering what other resources are needed for the success of the new venture. Financing and ideas to preserve your financial stability are discussed more fully in Entrepreneurial Finance and Accounting .

Step 5: Business Plan

The ability to travel and visit new locations is a privilege and a great opportunity to gain exposure to new experiences and opportunities. In addition to the work involved in preparing for a trip, the act and process of traveling involves constant decision making to achieve your desired goals and outcomes. For instance, should you travel to one location in Glacier National Park and explore that area in depth? Or should you attempt to visit as many areas of the park as possible with your given resources and abilities?

The challenge at this step of your entrepreneurial journey is to remain focused on managing your resources to meet your goals and outcomes as you write your business plan for your new venture. You will need to focus on the skills, experience, and resources necessary for your venture, and the management and decision making required to ensure success and adjust your plan based on changes and new information. Just as you might find a location in Glacier National Park where you want to stay for a couple of nights, a deviation from your original business plan (discussed in Business Model and Plan ) will also require adjustments and changes based on new information and insights.

Be honest with yourself by running a reality check about your ability to manage a venture, especially from a personal-capacity perspective. For example, if you start a business, will it be a part-time or full-time venture? Will you start while in school? Or will you wait until after graduation? The timing of opening the venture can be the difference between success and failure. Consider the difference between hiking in Glacier National Park in the middle of winter, when the daytime temperature is thirteen degrees below zero, and hiking in the middle of summer, when the daytime temperature is seventy-nine degrees. The timing of your visit to the park is an important part of your enjoyment and success in reaching your destination. In planning for your trip, you would pay attention to your departure time to ensure enjoyment and success in your adventure. Similarly, as part of your business plan, you would also research the best time to open your venture.

Finally, during your travels, getting lost, overwhelmed, or sidetracked is always possible. If you get lost when traveling, you might refer to social navigation apps such as Google Maps , Waze , or HERE WeGo , to find turn-by-turn directions and information. Or you might refer to a weblink, a printed map, or a local expert or guide familiar with the area. The business plan is your map. You should identify decision points and milestones , significant key accomplishments, in your plan. Milestones could include points such as hitting your breakeven point , the point at which income from operations results in exactly enough revenue to cover costs. If the financial projections in your business plan are unattainable, what is your next move within the plan? If you don’t reach the milestones identified in your business plan, what alternative choices can you make to redirect your venture? The business plan, in its first draft, should inform you whether your venture has a chance at success. If there are negative areas, what can you change? Building this plan before starting the business provides you with knowledge and insights about your idea. Make any necessary changes to the plan to strengthen the possibility of success. Then when you open the venture, track whether the reality of the venture aligns with your business plan’s projections and expectations. The business plan functions as both a road map to help you see where you are going next in building your venture and as a checklist to track whether you are on course or need to make adjustments. When entrepreneurs get off track, they can check out self-help websites, speak with a business coach or counselor, or contact local agencies or organizations, including those affiliated with the federal SBA. Organizations that offer free (or low-cost) small business counseling, mentoring, and training, include:

  • SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives): https://www.score.org/
  • Small Business Development Center (SBDC): https://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/osbdc/resources
  • Women’s Business Center (WBC): https://www.sba.gov/local-assistance/find/?type=Women%27s%20Business%20Center&pageNumber=1
  • US Export Assistance Center: https://www.export.gov/welcome
  • Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC): https://veteransoutreachcenter.org/
  • Other organizations include locally organized support such as pop-up entrepreneurial schools like PopUp Business School (https://www.popupbusinessschool.co.uk/) and https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/this-free-program-trains-people-how-to-start-a-business-but-without-debt

These and other resources will be discussed in more depth in Building Networks and Foundations . Look at the review questions and the discussion questions at the end of this section to prepare for creating your business plan. Business plans ( Figure 2.10 ) are discussed more fully in Business Model and Plan .

Step 6: Navigation

Once you’ve completed your trip, reflect on the experiences you had. No matter how well you feel you have planned, there is no way you can prepare for all of the potential challenges, changes, and obstacles that may occur: missed or changed flights, poor weather, an unexpected illness, a trail or road closed for repairs, or sudden good fortune. What parts of the trip went well? If you ran into a problem, how did you handle it? Was the problem something you could have anticipated and planned for? Or was it unexpected? What did you learn from the experience? If you were planning a trip to another national park, what would you do differently in your planning stage? Just as seasoned travelers adjust to their circumstances and learn from their experiences, so should you, as an entrepreneur, learn to adjust by meeting and managing challenges head on.

After completing your business plan, you will probably need to adjust your plan ( Figure 2.11 ). You might decide that you will not have enough resources to survive the time until your venture reaches the breakeven point, or you might determine that the location you selected is no longer available. There are multiple variables that require further exploration and research.

By nurturing an entrepreneurial mindset , you will be better prepared when opportunities, challenges, or obstacles surface. Although you won’t be able to predict or plan for every potential scenario along the entrepreneurial journey, an entrepreneurial mindset helps you to be resourceful when opportunities, challenges, or disappointments occur. By unpacking, or by taking an inventory of your available resources, you can also get a better picture of what you may need to unload, retain, or discard, or even if a new direction is the best course of action. On your entrepreneurial journey, evaluating the experience or situation is a perfect opportunity for you to determine how realistic, overambitious, or shortsighted your dreams and goals for your venture may be. This chapter will explore your vision for your future and your venture. Does your vision include a level of flexibility when you discover new information that supports exploring a new area?

Step 7: Launch

The actual launch is the exciting event when you open your business. By this point, you have made improvements to your product through feedback received in your trial run; you’ve identified the value or benefits provided by your product; you’ve identified your target market; and you’ve identified the location of your launch, whether it is a geographical location or an Internet location.

Inc . magazine provides an analysis of the best locations to launch a new venture, with Austin, Texas, taking the lead (see “Surge Cities: These Are the 50 Best Places in America for Starting a Business,” in Suggested Resources ). Consider your target market and the resources necessary to support your venture when choosing the location for your launch. Advice from within the entrepreneurial world suggests that sometimes the launch should take place “under the radar,” meaning in a location where you can make mistakes, fine-tune your business model and offerings, and even become successful without competitors noticing that you have created a disruption within the industry. (You will learn more about this in Launch for Growth to Success ).

Even as you are launching your venture, many variables will require your attention, just as we covered in Step 7. Navigating through these variables as your venture grows requires constant attention as new potential opportunities arise.

Sixto Cancel and Think of Us

Sixto Cancel successfully faced the harsh challenges of aging out of the foster-care system without adult support or guidance. He imagined a better foster-care system for young people then cofounded the firm Think of Us. Think of Us is a platform that helps young people in foster care build their own personalized digital advisory board of supportive adults who act as a virtual life-coaching group. The adults guide the young people through the foster-care system and ensure that they are able to become independent when they leave the system at age eighteen. For more information about this venture, visit www.thinkof-us.org.

  • 1 David Pridham. “Entrepreneurs: Here’s Good News for 2018.” Forbes . 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidpridham/2018/01/10/entrepreneurs-heres-good-news-for-2018/#660f5ebd6659
  • 2 UpWork and Freelancers Union. “Freelancers Predicted to Become the U.S. Workforce Majority within a Decade, with Nearly 50% of Millennial Workers Already Freelancing, annual ‘Freelancing in America’ Study Finds.” UpWork . October 17, 2017. https://www.upwork.com/press/2017/10/17/freelancing-in-america-2017/
  • 3 UpWork. “Sixth Annual ‘Freelancing in America’ Study Finds That More People Than Ever See Freelancing as a Long-Term Career Path.” UpWork . October 3, 2019. https://www.upwork.com/press/2019/10/03/freelancing-in-america-2019/
  • 4 David Pridham. “Entrepreneurs: Here’s Good News for 2018.” Forbes . 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidpridham/2018/01/10/entrepreneurs-heres-good-news-for-2018/#660f5ebd6659; Lawrence F. Katz and Alan B. Krueger. “The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States, 1995–2015.” 2016. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/katz_krueger_cws_final_nov2018.pdf.
  • 5 Elka Torpey and Brian Roberts. “Small-Business Options: Occupational Outlook for Self-Employed Workers.” US Bureau of Labor Statistics . May 2018. https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2018/article/self-employment.htm
  • 6 Carly Moulton and Dave Cosgrave. “Second Annual Self-Employment Report.” FreshBooks . 2017. https://www.freshbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/2018selfemploymentreport.pdf
  • 7 OECD Data. “Self-employment Rate.” OECD.org . n.d. https://data.oecd.org/emp/self-employment-rate.htm.
  • 8 Arnobio Molrelix. “The Biggest Reason the U.S. Needs Small Businesses to Thrive Has Nothing to Do with Taxes or the Economy.” Inc ., Dec. 20, 2018. https://www.inc.com/arnobio-morelix/inc-entrepreneurship-index-2018-q3.html
  • 9 David Jolley. “America Needs Immigrant Entrepreneurs.” Business Insider . September 5, 2017. https://www.businessinsider.com/america-needs-immigrant-entrepreneurs-2017-9
  • 10 Dinah Wisenberg Brin. “Immigrants Form 25% of New U.S. Businesses, Driving Entrepreneurship in ‘Gateway’ States.” Forbes . July 31, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dinahwisenberg/2018/07/31/immigrant-entrepreneurs-form-25-of-new-u-s-business-researchers/#10ee8099713b
  • 11 “Ease of Doing Business Rankings.” Doing Business . May 2019. http://www.doingbusiness.org/en/rankings
  • 12 Niels Bosma and Donna Kelley. “Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2018/2019 Global Report.” GEM Consortium . January 21, 2019. https://www.gemconsortium.org/report/50213
  • 13 Gary Stockton. “Statistics and Obstacles Facing Women Entrepreneurs.” Experian . January 29, 2018. http://www.experian.com/blogs/small-business-matters/2018/01/29/statistics-and-obstacles-facing-women-entrepreneurs/

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  • Authors: Michael Laverty, Chris Littel
  • Publisher/website: OpenStax
  • Book title: Entrepreneurship
  • Publication date: Jan 16, 2020
  • Location: Houston, Texas
  • Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/entrepreneurship/pages/1-introduction
  • Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/entrepreneurship/pages/2-1-overview-of-the-entrepreneurial-journey

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Navigating My Entrepreneurial Journey with Purpose and Passion

You are here.

Henry Coote smiling in from of the top of Mount Kilimanjaro

A career in business has always interested me, but did not really know what that might look like. I started my journey by getting a liberal arts degree at Trinity College when I was recruited as a student athlete on the men's lacrosse team. In college, I  wanted to satisfy my curiosity about the world by broadening my  scope of politics and economics.

The combination of my competitive nature and hunger for a challenge, as an athlete, paired with my curiosity and creativity led my entrepreneurial journey to Entrepreneurial Solutions , a thriving consulting venture affiliated with the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder , led by passionate MBA students.

My Journey's Genesis

My story began with uncertainty but overflowed with potential. After a period in advertising agencies, I found my niche in the dynamic realm of sales at MVF , a UK-based customer generation and digital marketing company. As an early employee at their new US office in Austin, TX, it felt very much like a startup environment with the backing of a larger organization. Here, I honed my skills, learning from mentors and engaging with diverse clients, ranging from Fortune 500 giants to nimble startups.

During my time at MVF, I realized that I loved working with those ambitious clients who were willing and able to iterate, test and occasionally fail fast. Through close collaboration with those clients, I was able to convince internal stakeholders to iterate on our own standard marketing campaigns and provide solutions that were outside of the scope of typical relationships. This led me to be a part of a small growth team at MVF that explored launching new business models with clients that previously would not be a fit for our services.

Thanks to five enriching years at MVF, I had laid the groundwork for my entrepreneurial ambitions!

The Entrepreneurial Odyssey

Henry Coote and Jordan Karol stiling in the grass by the Leeds School of Business

Our journey with Entrepreneurial Solutions was diverse, spanning sectors such as cannabis, aerospace and outdoor recreation. This multifaceted experience enabled me to leverage my MBA coursework and past experiences in ways that a conventional internship could not have afforded.

The Influence of Education and Mentorship

My entrepreneurial prowess did not develop in isolation. The guidance I received from my predecessors, Liz Compos and Josh Moore , was invaluable. Their insights into establishing a business, building a robust online presence and managing finances became the foundation upon which my team and I constructed Entrepreneurial Solutions.

Additionally, the support from an esteemed advisory board, including Erick Mueller , Betsy Klein , Marcy Tatsch , and Michael Szymanski , elevated our consulting game. Workshops on sales strategies, consulting essentials, and the art of business storytelling proved instrumental. The Leeds School of Business alumni network further expanded my horizons, connecting me with industry experts and offering avenues for valuable market research.

Launch Your Journey

Now, armed with newfound wisdom and boundless enthusiasm, I encourage aspiring entrepreneurs and enthusiasts to seize the initiative. I urge you to capitalize on the resources and events offered by the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship . For those hungry for genuine experiences, I extend a heartfelt invitation: “Consider applying for Entrepreneurial Solutions as a consultant this spring!”

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my entrepreneurial journey

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My entrepreneurial journey and why i'm now pursuing an mba.

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I often get asked how I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. To be frank, for most of my life I didn’t. I began college as an aspiring physician, a student in Hofstra University’s dual-degree BS/MD program that would allow me to graduate in eight years with a Bachelor of Science and a Doctor of Medicine.

Discovering entrepreneurship as an undergrad

My first experience with entrepreneurship came my freshman year by watching Hofstra’s annual business pitch competition, which showcased 10 students pitching their ventures to a panel of investor judges. As an avid watcher of Shark Tank growing up, I couldn’t imagine anything cooler than pitching your own company in front of investors. Albeit, my university’s pitch competition wasn’t quite as exciting as receiving an investment from Mark Cuban, but I was still in awe that students my age were already building their own companies. I wanted to do that too.

With encouragement from my mentor, Sina Rabbany, the Dean of Hofstra’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, I reached out to Hofstra’s Center for Entrepreneurship and scheduled a meeting with Stacey Sikes and Sharon Goldsmith, the Center’s Executive and Vice Deans. It was after this meeting that I officially began my entrepreneurial journey and founded Cress Health , a startup that would create digital technologies to help individuals enhance their mental wellness. I decided to partner with my best friend from high school, Justin Kim.

Do you want to know how to become an entrepreneur? See how to get started with business programs for entrepreneurs .

Mentorship and making my first pitch

Like most first-time founders, I was armed with an idea and a passion for making the world a better place. But given that my background had primarily been medical in nature up to that point, there was a huge knowledge and experience gap that I had to overcome. I wouldn’t have been able to bridge this gap without the tremendous support I received from mentors such as Rick Kolsky, an adjunct professor at the Kellogg School of Management , which gave me the crucial guidance I needed to navigate the early stages of my venture. In just a few short months, I had pitched at more than five business competitions and won nearly $40,000 in non-dilutive seed funding and in-kind services, including the Graduate Management Admission Council's 2019 “Think Like an Entrepreneur” competition . This seed funding was pivotal in allowing me to build out my minimum viable product and establishing my initial traction.

Image of young entrepreneur Michael Lai standing near window and looking out of it

Image of entrepreneur Michael Lai. Photo credit: Philip Hinds, Hofstra University 

The impact of COVID-19 on my journey

Although Cress Health originated as an addiction recovery venture, I quickly pivoted to what soon became an even more pressing problem: healthcare worker burnout. With the advent of COVID-19, when most businesses were forced to shut down and thousands fell ill, our nation’s healthcare workers were thrust into the middle of an unforeseen crisis that no one could’ve imagined or prepared for. They were facing an unknown enemy. Information about the virus and its modes of transmission was still speculative and constantly changing each day.

The pandemic’s rapid rise caught our nation’s hospitals by surprise and left them crippled as an inundation of patients caused nationwide shortages of basic medical supplies. In the face of this turmoil, most innovators focused on improving the physical wellness of our healthcare workers through initiatives that would increase the availability of personal protective equipment. While that is incredibly important, protecting the mental wellness of our healthcare workers is equally, if not more, important.

I realized that if this problem goes unaddressed there would be long-term, debilitating psychological repercussions. So I quickly shifted Cress Health’s product offering into the Cress app, which healthcare workers could turn to for confidential and convenient mental health support. In just a few short weeks, I was able to establish a pilot partnership with AMITA Health, one of the largest healthcare systems in the Midwest with 19 hospitals and over 200 outpatient centers in Chicago. Since then, I’ve partnered with over four more healthcare organizations nationwide to maximize my product’s impact and help as many healthcare workers as I can during this crisis.

International expansion of Cress Health

I was fortunate to receive funding from the Clinton Foundation’s COVID-19 Student Action Fund. I’ve used part of this funding to expand my efforts internationally and have partnered with the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), and African community partners (Step Up for Kakuma) to provide the Cress app free of charge to individuals in the Kakuma refugee camp, one of the largest refugee camps in the world and home to over 200,000 refugees and asylum seekers based in northwest Kenya. This initiative is a component of Cress Cares, Cress Health’s philanthropic arm, and part of my broader mission to destigmatize mental health, provide equitable access to mental wellness resources, and increase mental health awareness in communities around the world.

In the face of the tragic explosion at the port of Beirut just weeks ago, I am currently working with community partners in Lebanon (Uplift Beirut) to deliver the Cress app to local healthcare workers and Red Cross first responders who witnessed unimaginable suffering in the aftermath. In recognition of these efforts, Cress Health was honored as part of Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas.

Expanding access to mental health resources

In line with my original mission, I’ve now turned my sights on equalizing access to mental health resources for all, regardless of a person’s circumstance or personal background. Something that I hear far too often is how difficult it can be for someone to find mental wellness and self-care resources that they can resonate with. Time and cost constraints present logistical barriers to therapy and many digital wellness applications, such as Headspace and Calm, are too one-dimensional to use on a consistent basis.

In light of this, I’ve worked hard over the past few weeks to create the Callie app , the world’s first AI-driven personal wellness companion that helps you keep track of, learn about, and enhance your personal mental wellness, lifestyle, and emotional health. I designed this app with my own needs in mind. As a result of our new post-pandemic “normal,” social interaction has become limited and sometimes completely non-existent. It’s easy for feelings of loneliness and emotional anxiety to arise, especially given all the uncertainty around us. Feelings are easy to bottle up, but they are incredibly important to release. The Callie app is here to help people do that. It was designed as a companion that’s by the user’s side 24/7, always ready for whatever they may need. The body is a temple. Callie helps people remember to treat it as such.

Why I’m pursuing an MBA

Over the course of my entrepreneurial journey thus far, I’ve learned an incredible amount, not just about practical business concepts, but personal insights about myself that I wouldn’t have reached otherwise. Above all, this experience has demonstrated that you’re never too young to make an impact, no matter how big or small.

As undergraduates, a mentality is often instilled in us that we’re too young to make an impact. But I realized that there’s no such thing as too young; all it takes is the right guidance from the right set of mentors. Business school can be the perfect environment to nurture such relationships and help you discover not only what you’re interested in, but what you’re passionate about. That’s why I’ve decided to pursue my MBA at the Kellogg School of Management through their Future Leaders deferred MBA program. As I look to the future, I’m excited by what’s to come and look forward to helping others unlock their own potential to make a difference.

Want to learn more about how you can leverage business education to make a real impact? Create an mba.com account to take advantage of resources from top business school experts around the world.

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Michael W. Lai is the CEO & Co-Founder of Cress Health. Learn more about Cress Health and their new digital wellness application, Callie, here .

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My Entrepreneurial Journey: 3 Key Skills for Success

my entrepreneurial journey

September 14, 2023

My Entrepreneurial Journey: 3 Key Skills for Success

Becoming a successful entrepreneur involves challenges, triumphs, and constant learning. As I reflect on my entrepreneurial journey, I can’t help but attribute much of my success to three key skills that have proven invaluable along the way. These skills go beyond industry-specific knowledge or business understanding; they are the foundational elements that have helped me navigate the unpredictable terrain of entrepreneurship . In this article, I will share my journey and delve into the three skills instrumental in my success as an entrepreneur.

Resilience: Weathering the Storms

The entrepreneurial path is not for the faint of heart. It’s a rollercoaster ride filled with highs and lows. Like many others, my journey began with a grand vision and a burning desire to bring a unique product to the market. However, I didn’t fully anticipate the inevitable setbacks and challenges that would test my resolve.

Overcoming Failure

Early on, I faced a major setback when a critical investor pulled out of my startup. It was a crushing blow, and the temptation to give up was strong. But it was during this time that I realized the importance of resilience. I picked myself up, reevaluated my strategy, and found alternative funding sources. This experience taught me that failure is not the end; it’s an opportunity to learn and grow.

Adaptability

Resilience also involves adaptability. In the ever-changing landscape of business, being able to pivot and adjust your approach is crucial. I learned to listen to feedback, analyze market trends, and make changes to stay competitive. This skill allowed me to survive and thrive in the face of adversity.

Mental Toughness

Entrepreneurship can be mentally taxing. The constant pressure, decision-making, and uncertainty can affect mental well-being. I developed mental toughness through meditation, mindfulness practices, and seeking support from mentors and peers. This skill enabled me to stay focused, maintain a positive mindset, and navigate the toughest challenges gracefully.

Adaptability: Embracing Change

In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, adaptability is not just a valuable skill; it’s a survival necessity. Over the years, I’ve realized that what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. Embracing change has been instrumental in my entrepreneurial journey.

Evolving business models

When I started my first business, the market dynamics were different. Technology and consumer preferences rapidly evolved, and I had to adapt my business model to stay relevant. This meant constantly researching emerging trends, experimenting with new strategies, and being open to radical changes when necessary.

Customer-Centric Approach

Adaptability also extends to the way you interact with your customers. I learned that successful businesses actively listen to their customers, understand their needs, and adapt their products or services accordingly. I retained loyal customers and attracted new ones by building a customer-centric approach to my business.

Agile Decision-Making

Being adaptable also requires agile decision-making. In today’s business environment, waiting too long to decide can be detrimental. I honed my decision-making skills by gathering relevant data, consulting with trusted advisors, and making informed choices quickly. This allowed me to seize opportunities and navigate challenges with confidence.

Effective Communication: Building Relationships

No entrepreneur can succeed in isolation. Building a network of relationships with customers, partners, investors, and employees is essential. Effective communication has been a cornerstone of my entrepreneurial journey.

Pitching Ideas

One of the first challenges I faced as an entrepreneur was pitching my ideas to potential investors. I quickly realized that having a brilliant idea was insufficient; I needed to communicate its value effectively. Over time, I developed the ability to craft compelling pitches that conveyed the potential of my ventures and inspired confidence in my vision.

Team Building

Building a high-performing team is critical for the success of any business. Effective communication within the team fosters collaboration, trust, and a shared sense of purpose. I learned to communicate my vision, delegate responsibilities, and provide constructive feedback. This created a positive work environment and motivated my team to excel.

Customer Engagement

In the age of social media and instant communication, engaging with customers is more important than ever. I leveraged effective communication to connect with my customers personally, address their concerns, and build brand loyalty. This skill helped me retain customers and turn them into brand advocates.

My entrepreneurial journey has been a rollercoaster ride filled with successes and failures. However, the three skills I’ve discussed—resilience, adaptability, and effective communication —have consistently guided me through the challenges and propelled me toward success. These skills are not exclusive to entrepreneurship; they apply to various aspects of life. Aspiring entrepreneurs should recognize their importance and actively cultivate them. With these skills as your foundation, you’ll be better equipped to navigate the unpredictable terrain of entrepreneurship and turn your vision into reality. Remember, success is not defined by the absence of obstacles but by your ability to overcome them.

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Wadhwani Foundation

My Entrepreneurial Journey

A life-changing and fulfilling experience.

By Monica Mehta

Monica Mehta

Most entrepreneurial journeys start with an epiphany, a life-changing experience, or a desire to create an impact and make a difference. My entrepreneurial journey has been no different. I was earning a graduate degree in global management in the US when the massive difference in the education systems in the US and India struck me. I wanted to bring back the best practices from the US to India and bring about a much-required change in the Indian education system. That was my starting point and the birth of “The Great Circle” – my education venture.

I started off with a degree in management, $5000 as capital, and a strong desire to make an impact in the education sector in early 2001. I spent the first six months researching the state of the Indian education sector and finally narrowed down on career guidance and counselling for kids in K12 as a starting point for my venture. And I can’t emphasize the importance of this enough – before diving into something, do your research, figure out the market needs, and drill down on your niche. Achieving success is difficult if you are not clear on what you are planning to do in the first place.

Another important trait for an entrepreneur is perseverance. Like all entrepreneurs, I struggled in the beginning. The first few months were especially difficult, but I stuck it out and soon had my first few clients– schools that believed they wanted their students to make informed career choices. The Great Circle grew over the next two years as I added the verticals of Study Abroad and Consulting for IB accreditation. The team grew to 10 people, and with time, I had this feeling of accomplishment from the numerous lives that I touched. By 2009, The Great Circle had started skilling programs in Retail, Real Estate, and BFSI as well, and I had also brought in a partner to join me on this journey. I had a young family and had to constantly balance my professional and personal life, but I don’t regret anything. It was indeed the most fulfilling journey.

Life is about moving forward, and in 2009, I was faced with a decision. I was offered a position as a partner in a first-time team that was building out a plan for India’s first Private Equity Fund focused on education. After much deliberation, I decided to make the jump. I sold The Great Circle to my business partner (not an easy decision) and started another journey of entrepreneurship with my new partners at Kaizen Private Equity. What started in a 500 square foot office in old South Bombay, where a rickety staircase led us to the dimly lit first floor, ended up as a $70 Mn fund with a swanky office in the span of two years. We deployed the fund across 11 investments and the 6.5 years of this journey were the steepest learning curve for me.

Finally, this chapter of my life came to an end in 2015 when I decided to move to an impact investment firm. Looking back, however, the 15 years between The Great Circle and Kaizen Private Equity were the most exciting and satisfying years of my professional life. For anyone who is considering foraying into entrepreneurship, I highly recommend it as an experience – your professional life would never be complete without experiencing the thrills and drama of being an entrepreneur.

Monica Mehta is Executive VP – Wadhwani NEN, Founder – The Great Circle and Former Partner – Kaizen Private Equity

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Hi Monica Madam. You have well said about your journey as an entrepreneur. I remember those days at THE GREAT CIRCLE working as a faculty of Maths(Quants). Happy to see your new journey in a different role. Regards. Prof Nikumbh Krishna R. 9819821118

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Dear Entrepreneur, A Love Letter What the Nell!?

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This is my love letter to you.  There's something about the raw, unfiltered stories of the entrepreneurial journey that resonates deep with us. It's the unspoken truth behind the shimmering facade of success that we often fail to recognize: the tough lessons, the emotional swings, and the courage it takes to keep moving forward. In my latest episode, I lay bare the realities of entrepreneurship, sharing anecdotes of disillusionment and the importance of authenticity. We traverse the challenging landscape of risk-taking, the sting of lost support, and the significance of acknowledging our vulnerabilities when life throws its punches. I address the silent struggle with mental health many founders face, with alarming statistics revealing the prevalence of anxiety and stress in the entrepreneurial community, it's clear that the path to success is often littered with hidden battles. Through personal reflection and engaging dialogue, this episode champions the power of resilience and the need for open discussions about our mental well-being. (00:00) Entrepreneurship Realities and Resilience (14:57) Navigating Risks and Loss of Support (23:34) Mental Health Struggles and Statistics Connect with us: Want to be a guest here on the podcast?  Schedule a Meet & Greet here! Drop us a line at [email protected] Website and all projects: www.enTICEingmedia.com Join the What the Nell!? Podcast Facebook group HERE! Grab a copy of Nell's #1 Bestseller, Curvature of the Career, HERE! Connect with Nell on Social Media: Facebook Instagram Produced by enTICEing Media, LLC Entrepreneurship, Resilience, Risk-taking, Mental Health, Vulnerability, Authenticity, Support, Success, Failure, Lessons, Emotional Rollercoaster, Open Conversations, Stigmas, Professional Help, Evolution, Podcast Content, Don't Follow Me Series, Navigating, Challenges, Illness, Loss, Anxiety, Burnout, Stress, Courage, Trials, Hidden Battles, Movement, Narrative, Multifaceted Journey, Emotional Swings, Courage, Supportive Relationships, Human, Breaks, Therapeutic Value, Peers, Statistics, Fear of Failure, Commitment, Anticipation

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My Entrepreneurial Journey

my entrepreneurial journey

Some of you know me from my previous career stop (Nine Lives Media Inc.). But, that’s not where my journey began. I want to share my entrepreneurial story as a way of reintroducing myself to the IT channel market -- and my way of welcoming you to ChannelE2E.

My entrepreneurial career has had four big stops so far - I’m not talking about lemonade stands or driveway shoveling gigs. These are real, all grown up, businesses.

Chapter 1: When I Left Corporate, For the 'Last' Time…

my entrepreneurial journey

The business was successful, in that it provided a lucrative paycheck and a solid living - it allowed me to balance work and family and gave me my first taste at ‘going it alone.’ But that’s what it was: Alone. I didn’t have a business partner, I didn’t have a product. It was “AaaS” - Amy as a Service. It was a successful business, but I was missing the fun and collaboration I desired.

What I learned: The art of sales - not to sell a magazine page or a banner ad, but to gain a customer for life. How to budget time for different projects and how to work within tough deadlines. I also learned that working alone wasn’t what I wanted to do long-term.

Chapter 2:  When I Joined a Startup and Got My Business Degree…

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I kept an open line between my former mentors and business associates, and when I saw a note from one to another somewhere online, I knew there was a startup business in the works.

So, I immediately called my dear friend and mentor and said “What are you launching and when do I join?” A week later we met in Providence, R.I., and agreed on next steps.

During that chapter in my career, we launched several niche blog sites, roundtable and multi-day conferences, a quarterly magazine and more. I served as VP of sales and learned how build business plans, balance a budget, manage a team and develop strategic programs. We did a lot right and made a few bad decisions along the road too. All have helped me to grow and focus as I move forward, and I’m lucky to have had these three years.

But the plan was always to use this stop as a step in my career, not my final destination. When the time was right -- Joe Panettieri and I decided we were ready to take on a new challenge.

Joe and I made many of the same stops along our career path. We met at Ziff Davis Media (my last corporate gig) around 1998, worked together doing custom media programming for some well known brands in the corporate business market , and as full-time employees at our most recent startup.

We were always on the same page in terms of our goals- - financially, family-wise and business focused. We both wanted to ‘own’ something. And we both now had enough experience under our belts to make it happen.

What I learned: How to build a real business with real products. How to scale, and how to scale back. When to say yes to a customer, and when to say no thank you. How to deal with multiple personalities and multiple markets. And that money shouldn’t be the goal behind every business stop you make -- sometimes you have to focus on the education you are getting, not the size of your wallet.

Chapter 3: When It All Began - Again…

Stage 1 Startup Icon

And so came the launch of Nine Lives Media Inc. in 2008. What seemed like a risk to many felt as comfortable to Joe and me as an old pair of jeans. We worked together seamlessly, agreed on growth plans and found focus in places where our minds didn’t meet.

We developed and launched four online media brands. Some took off fast, some grew more slowly and one we shuttered after about a year. We took the fail fast approach with brands and products, knowing that focus was our ally. It felt good to fail because it keeps things real and keeps success in perspective.

Things grew nicely and we were being courted by companies who wanted our brands as their own. We declined offers in order to stay true to our business. Until we hit the point where we knew we couldn’t sustain the business growth trajectory without help.

Enter the ‘exit’ phase of Nine Lives Media Inc. We talked with many companies over a period of time, negotiated with more than a couple and ultimately found a new home for our business at Penton in mid-2011.

What I learned: How to build brands that stand the test of time. How to work with a collaborative partner. How to strategize and how to succeed. And, that working 20 hours a day for too long is too much.

Chapter 3.5: When I Went Back to Corporate. Wait, What?

replay icon

OMG, how did this happen? I’m not going to lie; the day the sale went through, I cried. Like a baby. Not because I was happy - but because I was scared half to death. Did we do the right thing? Did we pick the right home? How in the name of all things holy did I end up back at a corporate media giant?

My days changed. My job shifted. Instead of the intense focus I gave to our customers and readers, I was spending more time focused internally in meetings and in spreadsheets. It was different - it was fun. I enjoyed my team, I enjoyed navigating the corporate waters, but always tried to keep our focus on serving the customers and readers my top priority. But I’m not sure I was the perfect corporate employee anymore -- I fought hard for what I believed was right for the brands, I said no to revenue growth opportunities when I felt they would hurt the brands and I passed up job promotions to stick with what I loved.

I also got pretty sick during my time at Penton. Talk about ‘ contingency plans ' and the absolute need to have them... I will always be thankful that we had a great team in place and a solid backbone to move the business forward when I was absent dealing with my own health. No one ever questioned me and there was nothing but support (Here’s when it became clear that yes, Joe and I did make the right choice back in 2011.)

That timeframe in my life gave me amazing perspective as well. It made me look at work and life differently than I had before. It made me realize you need to love what you do in order to do well. And although I liked my job, there were things I really missed: Strategic planning, Creativity, Being my own boss, Moving quickly, Trying new technologies and angles.

And so in May 2014, right after we celebrated my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, I left Penton. The time was right for the business -- I believed in the new management and I believed that the team we hired understood our original mission and would take care of the brands Joe and I brought to market.

What I learned: Corporate is not entrepreneurial. And that’s what I missed.

Chapter 4: Hello, When Did You Enter the Room?

Icon Family

I took May through August 2014 off. I went hiking. I went to the gym -- a lot. I spent a considerable amount of time hanging out with friends and family and explored the North Shore of Massachusetts with my husband on our tandem bike. It was awesome. But I missed working. Yes, I did.

Fast forward to September 2014. Joe and I connected, and again, we were in the same place. We were ready to return to our entrepreneurial roots and do something groundbreaking. And boy, did we have ideas. So many ideas.

Welcome to Your Journey -- and Ours

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When we launched After Nines Inc. a year ago, we didn't have any specific plans to develop a media platform. Instead, we did some IT consulting and we went on a journey of discovery -- again. We’re happy we had the time to think, and re-think, our mission, our values, our potential approach to content and what we can do to move the market forward.

This site -- the mission , the content strategy , the database tools -- means a lot to us. It’s the market we grew up in, and the market we love. We’re reconnecting with many old friends, and we're rapidly making new connections as well. We believe we are bringing valuable content to the Channel. We want our conversation with you to be exactly that -- a two-way conversation.

This site is about your journey from entrepreneur to exit -- but it’s also part of our journey.

Thanks for being here. We look forward to joining you on the road from entrepreneur to exit (E2E). As my own story shows: The journey isn't linear. It doesn't have a clear beginning, middle and end. Like life itself, E2E is about the journey -- and the connections we make on that journey.

Amy Katz

Amy Katz is a technology entrepreneur who has launched, built and sold a range of IT media platforms. As president and CEO of After Nines Inc. , she oversees business development, sales and finance for the overall company and ChannelE2E. Read all of her blogs here .

Amy Katz

Amy Katz is a technology entrepreneur who has launched, built and sold a range of IT media platforms. As president and CEO of After Nines Inc., she oversees business development, sales and finance for the overall company and ChannelE2E.

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my entrepreneurial journey

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my entrepreneurial journey

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How Sneakers Saved My Life: My Entrepreneurial Journey (Book 1)

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How Sneakers Saved My Life: My Entrepreneurial Journey (Book 1) Hardcover – November 26, 2021

  • Print length 213 pages
  • Language English
  • Publisher EXCLUCITY
  • Publication date November 26, 2021
  • Reading age 14 years and up
  • ISBN-10 1777524504
  • ISBN-13 978-1777524500
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How Sneakers Ruined My Life: The Entrepreneurial Journey That Shifted My Mental State (Book 2)

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ EXCLUCITY (November 26, 2021)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 213 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1777524504
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1777524500
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 14 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.17 pounds
  • Best Sellers Rank: #3,894,666 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books )

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my entrepreneurial journey

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Unlocking Potential: Charles Rose’s Journey from Tech Entrepreneur to Transformational Coach

my entrepreneurial journey

Charles Rose is not your typical executive coach. With a background that spans technology, entrepreneurship, and spirituality, Rose brings a unique blend of expertise to his coaching practice. Born into a family with a rich legacy of public service, Rose’s upbringing provided him with early exposure to technology and influential figures like Steve Jobs. Yet, it was his father’s friendship with the Dalai Lama that inspired Rose to integrate spiritual lessons into our modern, technological lives.

After starting and selling several successful companies, Rose realized that the greatest challenges in business come from understanding and elevating the human elements. This realization led him to transition into coaching, where he now empowers individuals and executives to achieve peak performance and fulfillment in all aspects of their lives.

Central to Rose’s coaching philosophy is the belief that clarity is the key to success. “To achieve our goals and reach our full potential, we must first have clarity,” says Rose. “Clarity allows us to focus our efforts and take meaningful action towards our objectives.”

To help individuals gain clarity on their goals and areas for improvement, Rose has developed an innovative online quiz that quickly assesses what area of coaching the individual needs to focus on. This quiz, which takes under 5 minutes to complete, provides valuable insights into the individual’s strengths and areas for growth.

“Finding your area of focus is the first step towards unlocking your full potential,” explains Rose. “I designed my online quiz to help individuals identify where they need support and guidance, so they can take the necessary steps to achieve their goals.”

Besides his online quiz, Rose offers a range of coaching services tailored to meet the unique needs of his clients. From one-on-one coaching sessions to online courses, routine meditations and mastermind-style group coaching, Rose provides individuals with the tools, insights, and support needed to navigate challenges, overcome obstacles, and thrive in today’s complex world.

“I personalize each coaching session to address the specific needs and goals of the individual,” says Rose. “Whether it’s clarifying purpose, resolving blocks, or crafting a visionary plan, my goal is to empower clients to achieve breakthrough results and unlock their full potential.”

Looking ahead, Rose remains committed to guiding individuals and executives towards greater levels of success, fulfillment, and impact. With his unique blend of expertise and his unwavering dedication to his clients’ success, Rose continues to be a beacon of inspiration and empowerment in the field of professional executive coaching.

For those looking to take the first step towards their own personal and professional transformation, Charles Rose’s online quiz provides a valuable starting point. By gaining clarity on their goals and areas for improvement, individuals can begin their coaching journey with confidence, knowing that they are on the path to unlocking their full potential.

To learn more about Charles Rose and take his online quiz, visit  https://www.charlesrose.coach/quiz .

my entrepreneurial journey

IMAGES

  1. Navigating the four stages of the entrepreneur journey

    my entrepreneurial journey

  2. 5 Steps To Starting Your Entrepreneurial Journey; Where To Start When

    my entrepreneurial journey

  3. My Entrepreneurial Journey

    my entrepreneurial journey

  4. Tips for making a successful entrepreneurship journey

    my entrepreneurial journey

  5. The Entrepreneur’s Journey [Infographic]

    my entrepreneurial journey

  6. 30 Lessons I've Learned Along My Entrepreneurial Journey

    my entrepreneurial journey

VIDEO

  1. How I started my entrepreneurial journey 🚀

  2. Life as an entrepreneur 🦋 #entrepreneurship

  3. The Life of an Entrepreneur

  4. How I Started My Entrepreneurial Journey at 18 Years Old🤔👀 #SocialMedia #Logo #Entrepreneurship

  5. Weekly Vlog #3: New Business, Civitas & Toastmasters

  6. Why become an entrepreneur ?

COMMENTS

  1. The Four Key Stages Of The Entrepreneur Journey

    getty. All entrepreneurs can be placed into one of the four stages: execute, systemize, scrutinize, exit. These stages make up the Ten Year Career framework. While the time frame for completing ...

  2. My Entrepreneurial Journey

    I named my little business Quinntessential Clothing. Note the double "n" in the name. My 17-year-old self would want to make sure you noticed that. Ultimately, my childhood foray into business planted the seeds for becoming an entrepreneur years later. Like all good things in life, that seed started with a feeling.

  3. Five Lessons For Successfully Starting Your Entrepreneurial Journey

    Craft a compelling story for your brain until it manifests as reality. 5. Self-Care. Self-care is vital in entrepreneurship—a solitary journey of weighty decisions and self-reliance. Without co ...

  4. A Beginner's Guide To Planning Your Entrepreneurial Journey

    getty. Fear, trepidation and self-doubt. These are just a few of the feelings that can come to mind when we think about entrepreneurship. And this is especially true for those who are toying with ...

  5. My Entrepreneurial Story: Lessons From My Business Exits

    Read on to discover every lesson I've learned along my entrepreneurial journey so far. Business #1: The lemonade stand. I've always had an entrepreneurial streak, and started my very first "business" when I was nine. It was a sweltering New England summer, and the kids on their bikes were thirsty. Ever the entrepreneur, opening a ...

  6. Lessons Learned: Key Takeaways from My Entrepreneurial Journey

    Key Takeaways on My Entrepreneurial Journey. Embrace failure as a learning opportunity: Understand that failures are an essential part of growth and can provide valuable lessons for future success. Build a strong support network: Surround yourself with like-minded individuals who can offer guidance, encouragement, and collaboration as you ...

  7. The entrepreneurial journey

    The garage stage on the entrepreneurial journey is a time for tinkering, tweaking and thinking. Few businesses make an instant leap from idea to actual business. At this point ideas and models are incubated, products and services are prototyped and tested, business plans are honed, potential customers are talked to, markets analysed, locations ...

  8. 7 Life Lessons From My Entrepreneurship Journey

    5. It's not all about you and your idea. Take time to serve and help others. My focus on my early businesses led to just me, me, me. This was a lonely experience and it negatively affected me and ...

  9. My Entrepreneurial Journey: Turning Impossible Into I'm Possible

    There is a feeling that becoming an entrepreneur is impossible. I want to share how my entrepreneurial journey and business were sparked by realizing that it is not "impossible", but rather "I'm possible". I took a simple statistic that I learned in University and turned it into a thriving 3D printing business, and you can do the same.

  10. 2.1 Overview of the Entrepreneurial Journey

    The Entrepreneurial Journey as a Trip. The entrepreneurial journey is your exploration to discover if entrepreneurship is right for you. Every entrepreneurial journey is unique; no two individuals will experience it in the same way. Along the way, you will find opportunities and risks coupled with challenges and rewards.

  11. 20 Years, 5 Key Lessons: My Entrepreneurial Journey

    Here's a snapshot of my journey: - At 15, I developed an exploding banana 🍌 game. - At 20, my entrepreneurial spirit ignited. - Formed my first company in college with friends. - Transitioned ...

  12. Navigating My Entrepreneurial Journey with Purpose and Passion

    The combination of my competitive nature and hunger for a challenge, as an athlete, paired with my curiosity and creativity led my entrepreneurial journey to Entrepreneurial Solutions, a thriving consulting venture affiliated with the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder, led by passionate MBA students. My Journey's ...

  13. Five Learnings from My Journey as an Entrepreneur

    Keep learning. Change is the only constant when it comes to business. As an entrepreneur, you need to stay curious to the core and always keep learning to find better ways of doing things. I often ...

  14. My Entrepreneurial Journey and Why I'm Now Pursuing an MBA

    In just a few short months, I had pitched at more than five business competitions and won nearly $40,000 in non-dilutive seed funding and in-kind services, including the Graduate Management Admission Council's 2019 "Think Like an Entrepreneur" competition. This seed funding was pivotal in allowing me to build out my minimum viable product ...

  15. My Entrepreneurial Journey: 3 Key Skills for Success

    No entrepreneur can succeed in isolation. Building a network of relationships with customers, partners, investors, and employees is essential. Effective communication has been a cornerstone of my entrepreneurial journey. Pitching Ideas. One of the first challenges I faced as an entrepreneur was pitching my ideas to potential investors.

  16. Episode 2: My Entrepreneurial Journey

    In this episode, Catherine shares the lessons she learned through her journey from a traditional job to becoming an. entrepreneur and the impact this has on ...

  17. My Entrepreneurial Journey

    Most entrepreneurial journeys start with an epiphany, a life-changing experience, or a desire to create an impact and make a difference. My entrepreneurial journey has been no different. I was earning a graduate degree in global management in the US when the massive difference in the education systems in the US and India struck me.

  18. My Entrepreneurial Journey: Week 1

    Jan 12, 2020. Dive into the first week of an entrepreneur's riveting journey. From exhilarating highs to daunting lows, discover how intuition becomes the guiding star amidst the rollercoaster of ...

  19. My Entrepreneurial Journey: Building a Startup

    The entrepreneurial journey is ongoing. It's about constantly evolving, innovating, and adapting to an ever-changing landscape. While there have been moments of uncertainty and doubt, the passion and drive to see the vision through have remained unwavering. Conclusion. My entrepreneurial journey of building a startup has been a rollercoaster ...

  20. Three Lessons Learned On The Entrepreneurial Journey

    Lesson 3: Never, never, never, never give up. The entrepreneurial journey is not for the faint-hearted. It's a rollercoaster of wins and losses, and it's easy to become disheartened when faced ...

  21. ‎What the Nell!?: Dear Entrepreneur, A Love Letter on Apple Podcasts

    This is my love letter to you. There's something about the raw, unfiltered stories of the entrepreneurial journey that resonates deep with us. It's the unspoken truth behind the shimmering facade of success that we often fail to recognize: the tough lessons, the emotional swings, and the courage it takes to keep moving forward.

  22. Help Launch My Entrepreneurial Journey!

    Hey there! I'm Caolin Witherspoon, and I am beyond excited to embark on a thrilling journey this summer as a Branch Manager with Vector Marketing. This incredible opportunity allows me to run my own office, gain valuable experience, and make a positive impact on the community.

  23. My Entrepreneurial Journey

    This site is about your journey from entrepreneur to exit -- but it's also part of our journey. Thanks for being here. We look forward to joining you on the road from entrepreneur to exit (E2E). As my own story shows: The journey isn't linear. It doesn't have a clear beginning, middle and end.

  24. MY ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY

    My entrepreneurial journey is marked by innovation, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. From my early ventures to the establishment of Asika Holdings Ltd and the creation of Serv ...

  25. How Sneakers Saved My Life: My Entrepreneurial Journey (Book 1)

    How Sneakers Saved My Life is a story of faith, humility, and strength. It truly bears testament to the adage that anything is indeed possible to those who persevere and believe. This thoughtfully written autobiography is a page-turner that will inspire generations to come that dreams can truly become realities.

  26. Unlocking Potential: Charles Rose's Journey from Tech Entrepreneur to

    Unlocking Potential: Charles Rose's Journey from Tech Entrepreneur to Transformational Coach. By: Get News. March 08, 2024 at 11:32 AM EST ... "I designed my online quiz to help individuals identify where they need support and guidance, so they can take the necessary steps to achieve their goals." ...

  27. Ira Malhotra on Instagram: "Here's a nugget from my small business

    83 likes, 3 comments - iramalhotra3 on February 23, 2024: "Here's a nugget from my small business journey, I've decided to talk more about brand buildin..."