Today (it's mid-November), I talked to a group of smart,
eager kids in my niece Cassie's journalism class at Wayne Hills
High School in New Jersey. It reminded me how random words or acts
can change your life. When I was in high school back in the 1960s,
my guidance counselor gave me a choice of three things I could be:
a teacher, a nurse or a secretary. None appealed to me. Under
pressure to say something, I remembered seeing women's names in
newspaper bylines, and I blurted out, "I want to be a
journalist." At journalism school, I was a broadcasting major
and never took a business class (no one except biz majors cared
much about business in the early '70s). And now, for more than
20 years, so much of my life has revolved around business.
So many of us end up in places we didn't intend to. And
that's not a bad thing. This is a convenient (and traditional)
time of year to examine our actions and figure out what we did
right, what we did wrong, and what we need to change. All too
frequently, however, we forget our epiphanies shortly after we have
them, and another "same old, same old" year starts
whizzing by. So let's at least try to remember our resolutions
through Leap Day.
Since we operate in "magazine time" at
Entrepreneur, we've already made our resolutions, and
you can already see some of them in this issue. New this year is
our relationship with SBTV, the first TV network on the Web devoted
to entrepreneurs. Business owners can turn to SBTV (at
www.sbtv.com) to find practical content from industry experts, and
you can access it whenever you need it-24/7. Look for the "See
It Now" boxes scattered throughout the issue, go to the URL
provided, and you can learn more about what you just read in
Entrepreneur.
Content Continues Below
Starting next month, we're adding a new "Tech"
column, called "Connections," to regularly cover
telephony issues vital to your business. In the "Be Your Own
Boss" section, "Success Coach" author Romanus Wolter
is going to share a monthly success tip for new entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneur.com will also be offering even more up-to-the-minute
articles on business trends and how-to guides for starting and
running your business.
It's hard to predict anything in life, and the
entrepreneurial realm tends to be even more volatile and packed
with surprises. We will, as usual, keep you updated on everything
you need to know to grow your businesses. We hope this will be a
comeback year for the economy. And while that's good news, it
also means you entrepreneurs will be confronted with new and
different challenges. You'll need solutions, and we promise to
provide them.
As I talked to those future journalists at my neice's high
school, I thought about the circuitous path I've taken from my
high school journalism class to 21-plus years with
Entrepreneur. When I was in high school, women weren't
editors of business magazines. Entrepreneurs weren't icons. And
innovation came from Fortune 500 companies. None of this is true
anymore. As you go forth into 2004 and think about how you're
going to grow a bigger and better business this year, it may be
helpful to look back at where you started. And remember the words
of Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Do not follow where the path may
lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a
trail."