Reinventing the Entrepreneur: Turning Your Dream Business into a Reality

Epilogue: Still Growing Strong and Damn Proud

Running a business takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (and caffeine). But at the end of the day, you should be building something you will be proud of.

—Sir Richard Branson

Even though I had been applying pieces of the inbox magazine model we just discussed for years prior to starting my “first and own” inbox magazine, I still had to learn through trial and error.

I didn’t have the kind of road map you now do to tell me what to do next. Through a lot of determination and a little bit of luck, I forced myself to learn enough to get started. I didn’t know how to set up a website; I did not know how to deploy an e-mail. While running large companies, I always had someone else handle those kinds of tasks.

Every time I ran across another obstacle, self-doubt came into play. I thought I might have to give up, I might have to go back and work for someone else, but I didn’t. I kept going. I kept asking questions. I kept talking to people who I thought might know the answers. If they didn’t know the answer, they could often point me to someone who might know.

The reason for my success today is that I just never gave up and I never stopped learning. I wasn’t any smarter than anyone else or better educated. I knew what I wanted to do and I kept figuring out how to reach my goal. It wasn’t always easy or fun, but each time I overcame another obstacle, that gave me the confidence that I could keep moving forward and overcome the next barrier ...