It's National Small Business Week! Let's Get Building & Share

For some of my followers out there, you might be saying to yourself, where has he been lately? For some, you may be completely oblivious to the idea that I have been quiet on small business for the past year. I have not shared, posted, written, featured any article or story related to small business because I wanted to "breathe." I wanted to take a step back and analyze, study, and understand the effects my mentoring over the past decade has had, if any, on small businesses globally, and from a different lens, take a view from afar and analyze what others have done to help small businesses and see the impact their approaches have had during the same time span and see what was gained, (or lost), by doing this.

To get you caught up to speed if you are new, since 2013, I have been credited by PwC, to have successfully launched over 400 small businesses, that they know for a fact that were a culmination of some being tech by nature, but majority, believe it or not, were store front small businesses. These were ideas scratched out on paper, and within the same calendar year, put in frames on a wall in their new storefront, somewhere in the world. I have stories from people I mentored from all over the world. There is not a continent I did not have my fingerprints on in helping someone launch a new small business, and, and for the past 6 years, I loved it. I loved it so much, that I had to take a break and analyze. I wanted to see if what I was doing and saying equated to success that was meaningful and impactful in ways that I could only know was right, accurate, and most importantly relevant, and this is what I learned...

This is my true definition of an entrepreneur based off years of experience of helping so many people succeed in launching Main Street businesses. A successful entrepreneur is an outstanding individual who passionately pursues a vision and finds the resources and creativity to unearth this idea to the world and bring it to new markets regardless of location. I have seen it time and time again, regardless of the environment, I have seen entrepreneurs get so creative in launching their small business that it redefines the meaning and purpose of complacency. For example, in Zimbabwe, an egg farmer wanted to start a business that had meaning and passion for "his people" and wanted me to help guide him in understanding marketing. We hashed out a plan and created a national campaign that was focused on a chicken named Morris. All our advertisement and social media feed went to telling a story about Morris and what he was doing managing all the hens in his life. His business exploded. People wanted autographed shirts of Morris of his footprint. This egg distributor went so far as to send cards with the footprint of a chicken on it with an inspiring story to keep going and it worked. The egg market erupted. He started giving eggs away to schools and to children, for consumption, but then another revenue stream of trade opened up when some even wanted a "chic" of their own from Morris. Again, thinking way beyond the scope and doing anything and everything to get the business launched is what it demands, and it's stories like this that have had the most relevancy to my understanding of the term of "ALL IN."

Over the past 12 months, I have participated in innumerable initiatives to better the lives of those who desire to chase their dream with opening a small business. I shelved my ideas I had so that I impacted others through meaningful ways. I have mentored, instructed, and taught online, or yes, even in a barn that held community small town debates, where the topic was "Small Business Electricity, How to Fire Up our Community of 600." In doing all this, and observing all the rest, I have noticed one common denominator in all of it that makes the business life tolerable in the sense that it does not matter who you are, your background, past, or where you are headed. That does not matter. Those are not the obstacles that we consume ourselves daily with, but actually do not matter. What I learned is that you have the patience to overcome the obstacles, and have the desire in your head to be something you were destined to become by design, whatever that is. Ex: Egg farmer wanting to only sell eggs. A writer only wanting to write and sell books and did so with elegance and compassion in their storytelling. What I learned over the past year is that in order to achieve all that was necessary to be the person they were made to be in business, one needed a community. Not a town to live in and work in, but their own community. Much like I explained to a class of second graders who have embraced the chaos of starting a small business over the next month, you need a community that inspires you in a way that brings it all together, and the fuel for success in your small business effort cannot be underestimated. That fuel is hope.

I know it sounds all to easy to make my findings seem ordinary, but for me, it was the personal experiences that I witnessed, where people would cry on my shoulder asking for mercy and help as their life savings went into their business, only to see it turn around for the positive and start growing. No longer was it a restaurant on Main Street in a small downtown community in Wyoming, but now a place of Hope for the combined employed and unemployed in search of an opportunity. As the restaurant owner stated, "Simon, this is a second home for many to view this as a place of opportunity rather than just a diner and you helped us identify that, build it, and brand it in a way that related to a lot of the folks that live here." Hope is for the strong, and critical for the weak. With hope, comes a community as defined by a second grade class in Eagle, ID that said "community is where cool things are shared to help cool people grow." Yes, Logan, we are all cool people and your perspective was spot on.

Now it is National Small Business Week and it's time for me to reengage, much like Maverick had to reengage after his moment of fear with the dead memory of Goose in the cockpit, while in real time just outside his window 35,000 feet up, enemy fire was attacking his fellow wingmen. Over the course of the next 12 months, I plan to do something that has been hard for me to adjust to, especially with the scheduling, but I demand to hold myself accountable in ways that have never been done before. I want to emerge from the depths of the skies above and get back in the dogfight of everyday small business and go ALL IN on helping others, and myself, as I am planning on ways to meet 1000s of new people and save their small business in ways never yet imagined, but are real. My goal, 200 small businesses over the next 6 months. That is what we are talking about. I want to get those launched and get them relevant as soon as possible and I want them to belong to YOU! All of you! If you have that passion and desire, then why not do it together?

I am open to invites on hitting as many small towns across the country as needed to help small businesses soar and to help those who need the HOPE to keep moving forward and launching their small business. The time has come for me to set goals of sustainability and a desire to bring opportunity to new markets, no matter where they are in the world. Every week I will be sharing a story on here of one small business, how they started, what they are doing to stay relevant, and answer any questions they might have. To add to this accountability post, I will also make it a personal goal of mine to launch two companies over the next 12 months, so that in one year from now, we can all share our fascinating stories with others, during National Small Business Week 2020. I have discovered a few opportunities that I believe are worthy of a shot and will make a run at it. I will also share those stories as to give you hopefully some things to take away and maybe even try on your own as not all ideas are bad ideas, especially in markets that have never seen them before. If you want some accountability, I am all for it. Like you, I need some and it will be good for all of us to collaborate and share our stories of success and failure so we can learn and move on in a direction that is what we all aspire to accomplish....forward.

Get Focused. Get Busy. Sprout and Grow. 

P. Simon Mahler, nominated as both an 'Expert' and 'Leader' Influencer in North America for small business, currently volunteers his time for the SCORE organization as part of the "Mentors to America's Small Business," as well as manages a Venture Firm's Start-Up Portfolio. Dedicated to building stronger economies in small communities and helping small businesses succeed through educational entrepreneurship, Simon is committed to the future success of each and every small business in small towns across the country. He is always available to take calls for action and is willing to mentor to any small business out there across the globe. Follow him on the journey of his next endeavor, by starting a business of your own. His daily blog of activities will be posted on LinkedIn for you to enjoy. Find him on social media and connect to get some great ideas to get your business growing!