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Tagged: entrepreneurial journey

How I got Beyond Payroll Survival

1 December, 2014

By Aaron Lee, president and creative director of Illuminati Studios and a member of EO South Florida

I’ve been a business owner for 10 years, but I feel like I’ve been an entrepreneur all of my life. Several months ago, like many of my fellow small business owners, I was just trying to understand how to survive from one payroll period to the next. Surviving is not a way to run a business and I sat back and really considered pulling the plug because I just wasn’t having fun anymore. Soon after, I decided that I didn’t know how to not be an entrepreneur anymore and chose to succeed, not just survive. As the saying goes, I threw my hat over the wall with no idea how to get it.

Categories: Entrepreneurial Journey Lessons Learned

Tags: best practices entrepreneurial journey entrepreneurs' organization small business

A Family Affair: When Your Son is the CEO

4 August, 2014

By Judy Gatena, an EO Los Angeles member and president and COO of REP Interactive

I was the first person in my family to drop out of high school and start a company, one that I owned and operated for nearly 30 years. So when it comes to watching a business go from birth to brick-and-mortar, I have plenty of experience in that space. When it’s your own son that’s doing all of the business building, however … well, that’s a little different. That’s when a mother’s patience is really put to the test.

Categories: LEADERSHIP

Tags: best practices entrepreneurial journey entrepreneurs' organization eo los angeles family lessons learned rep interactive tips

A Family Affair: When Your Mom is the President

1 August, 2014

By Steve Gatena, an EO Los Angeles member and founder and CEO of REP Interactive

When most people think of a “family business,” they likely think of a company that’s been handed down the family chain from generation to generation. I took a different approach. When I was 22, I launched REP Interactive, a global video and broadcast media production company. Bucking the trend, I chose to hire friends and family to help me realize my vision, knowing full well that running and maintaining a business was going to be a challenge.

Categories: Entrepreneurial Journey

Tags: entrepreneurial journey family business lessons learned rep interactive steve gatena

Is Business Success Measured in Degrees?

8 July, 2014

By Heather Baker, an EO UK-London member, and founder and CEO of TopLine Communications, a digital communications consultancy

An article I read recently got me thinking: How many of the entrepreneurs I know have earned a university degree? Two thirds? Half? A better question is: How many of the graduates among them, if they could go back, would enroll all over again for those years of cloistered (or not so cloistered) study?

If my experience is anything to go by, I think the vote would be split. I did go to university, and looking back it was in parts very useful, in parts not at all. And I know several entrepreneurs who boast great business talent having never seen the inside of a lecture theatre. Which isn’t to say that higher education will not equip you for a career as an entrepreneur; I believe it can. However, I would stop short of calling it a necessary condition of business success.

Categories: Best Practices Entrepreneurial Journey

Tags: business degrees education entrepreneurial journey entrepreneurs' organization entrepreneurship eo eo uk-london heather baker school topline communications university

8 Tips for Braving Uncharted Territory

3 June, 2014

By Ishwar Chugani, an EO U.A.E. member and managing director of Giordano

When I was in university, I wanted to be different. So, I did something unexpected. Right after graduation, in 1979, I left my home in the Philippines and moved to Dubai. Back then, it created quite a stir, as my family has its own business and I was expected to take the helm. But that was not what I wanted to do.

So, I set off on a journey to an unchartered territory. I joined a Dubai-based group of companies, where I was tasked to open and operate the first family entertainment center in Dubai. Failure was not an option, as I could not turn back and go home empty-handed. I had to succeed. But how?

Categories: Best Practices Entrepreneurial Journey LEADERSHIP

Tags: best practices dubai entrepreneurial journey EO U.A.E. giordano ishwar chugani lessons learned management tips

These Things Happen

26 May, 2014

By Rowena “Ro” Crosbie, an EO Iowa member and president of Tero International, Inc.

It was a stereotypical small business startup. The year was 1993. The business idea was to provide presentation-skills training to professionals who believed that competitive advantage was due, at least in part, to the ability to communicate persuasively and confidently.

The bank required US$200 to open a business account. That was the startup capital. My first office was a spare bedroom in our Iowa, USA, farmhouse. My two house cats, who I named vice presidents of the company, were my constant companions (at least as constant as you can be when you sleep 16 hours a day).

Categories: Best Practices Entrepreneurial Journey LEADERSHIP

Tags: best practices entrepreneurial journey entrepreneurs' organization eo iowa lessons learned rowena crosbie tero international

Deciphering the Unmistakable Roadmap to Yes

1 May, 2014

By Jason Beukema, an EO South Florida member and owner of Whet Travel

The “road to yes” is more than just a journey toward success and positive thinking, it’s about truly knowing yourself – your highs, your lows, your strengths, your setbacks – and carving a niche that you can own that will be your own. As I moved the tassel from right to left with an entrepreneurship degree from Central Michigan University, I knew I had to dream big and work hard to be the quintessential success I had so carefully and keenly set out to become. But what did that even mean, and where and how would I begin?

Categories: Best Practices Entrepreneurial Journey Goal Setting members

Tags: entrepreneurial journey entrepreneurs' organization eo EO South Florida following your dream Jason Beukema lessons learned Music Cruise tips Whet Travel

Keeping Up with the Competition: Insights from India

29 April, 2014

By Chander Agarwal, an EO New Delhi member and Executive Director of Transport Corp Of India (TCI), a leader in logistics

When I started thinking about entrepreneurship in 2001, the world was slower and simpler. The Internet bubble had just burst and the world had witnessed the worst attack on mankind by mankind themselves. At the time, I had just received my BSC degree from an American school, with specialized training in “lean logistics.” It was time for me to head back home to India and put my newfound knowledge and skills to good use.

Categories: Best Practices Entrepreneurial Journey

Tags: chander agarwal differentiation entrepreneurial journey logistics new delhi tcl transport corp of india

How I Found My Business "Why"

25 April, 2014

By Elliott Holt, an EO Nashville member and CEO of

Very few companies can clearly articulate WHY they do what they do. When I say WHY, I don’t mean to make money, I mean what is our purpose, cause or belief? WHY does our company exist? WHY do we get out of bed every morning?

Categories: Entrepreneurial Journey

Tags: entrepreneurial journey entrepreneurs' organization eo

Selling Frogs to the French

24 April, 2012

By Gustavo Monrero, an EO Switzerland-Geneva member and chairman and partner of GAM Consulting Group and Hedblom Partners Group

My entrepreneurial journey started when I was 14 years old. I was living in my hometown of Santiago, Chile, when a friend saw a newspaper article that caught our attention. The article mentioned how there was a big market for frog legs in France. Apparently, people were eating them left and right, and the demand was a lot higher than the supply.

That day, we decided to start a business— we would sell frogs to the French! It seemed we had stumbled upon a goldmine, and we were going to be rich beyond our wildest dreams. Lucky for us, there were plenty of frogs in Chile, and even better, nobody ate them. People thought they were slimy little creatures and left them alone. But in France, everyone seemed to love them and they were paying good money to eat their legs for lunch!

Categories: general

Tags: entrepreneurial journey entrepreneurial spirit entrepreneurs' organization eo switzerland-geneva france frogs fun inspirational sales