Hi! I’m Anna Akana and for the next 17 weeks, I’ll be your host for the second half of Crash Course Business. So let’s talk about entrepreneurship!
“Entrepreneur” feels like a buzzword that businessy people throw around, like “synergy” or “NextGen. ” And I’m gonna say it about a thousand times for this series, which can make any word feel like it’s losing all meaning. But it has a pretty clear definition: if you see a need in the world and take a financial risk to fill that need… you’re an entrepreneur!
Congratulations! I’m so proud of you! You know, I didn’t think of myself as an entrepreneur when I started doing the whole YouTube thing, and at first I was making money other ways too.
But I decided to take the risk, put in a lot of work, and do the art-acting-writing-music-YouTube-etcetera thing full-time. And now I’m a small business owner! A real-life entrepreneur!
Everyone’s path is different, and because entrepreneurship involves a lot of risk, it’s okay to be nervous. And it’s okay to fail. We’re gonna talk about how to tackle the scary stuff head on, and how to learn from failure so it doesn’t turn you into a smoking burned out husk of a human.
Over these 17 episodes, we’ll start with the seed of any business -- a good idea -- and talk about how to ask for help and grow it into a whole thriving entrepreneurial venture. We’ll cover big-picture concepts like how to get helpful feedback, scope out your competition, develop customer relationships, and start making money. And also what the heck to do after you start making money!
Plus, we’ll make sure to translate all the entrepreneurship jargon and legalese along the way. You’ll be throwing around terms like “value proposition” and “minimum viable product” like a pro. And you’ll know the difference between C-corps, co-ops, and LLCs.
How entrepreneurial is THAT! Our goal is to help you achieve your goals. With a little grit, determination, and luck, your dreams or hobbies could potentially become a whole career.
So join me next week, as we start our journey by asking who entrepreneurs are, and how you might forge your own path to start a business. I’m Anna Akana, this is Crash Course Entrepreneurship, and I’ll see you then.
