Three benefits of keeping a journal as an entrepreneur.

“Write what should not be forgotten.”  - Isabel Allende

September 2, 2016

This semester I will be required to keep a journal of all the steps that my partners and myself will take towards developing our business idea. 

Here are three reasons why it is important for entrepreneurs to keep a journal;

1. A model for your success

• I believe there are guiding principles that we can use, which will help to keep us on a path of achieving success. For example, I have a general format that I follow most if not all the time when I write articles and it works extremely well for me. I usually divide my articles into three sections; 

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• In the first part of the article, I start by telling the reader what I am going to write about in a short sentence.
• The second section will then see me speaking about the topic in further detail, using bullet points or numbering to make the information easier to follow.
• Finally, I have a call to action; asking the reader to get involved, usually in activities related to the topic.

• I developed this model after years of practice, trial and error, documenting and reviewing what worked best for me, then eventually settling on the outline above. As you continue to add to your journal, identify the patterns in those moments of victory and create a model from these experiences. This you could then replicate, more often than not achieving the same positive results.

2. Solution for challenges to come

• It is true, lightning never strikes in the same place twice, however, whether it strikes you on your head or your arm, the fact is, you’ve still been struck by lightning. If you used one cure for the pain on the first occasion and it worked, it is reasonable to believe that you would use the same remedy should it happen a second time. Challenges in business will come, the major one’s especially, must be recorded then reviewed and your actions from there on forth should, reflect decisions taken to ensure that you are more resilient were it to ever happen to you again. 

3. Ideas to develop in the future

• You may be operating a business, and you realize that there is a great opportunity to expand into another area or you’re always thinking of new ideas/products that you could create, ensure that you always write it down. Don’t ever let doubt about whether its good or not enter your mind, its an idea, you lose nothing by writing it in your journal. In fact you are most certain to grow from it, both in terms of the encouragement that you get from seeing your list of ideas getting larger and larger over time and more importantly you practice that process of thinking creatively, which is so important for finding innovative ways of solving problems.

The business we will attempt to create is an online loans company. I will post a weekly update on what has been accomplished so far, every Friday. I encourage you too, to start writing in your own journal, and you will see the great value it holds for you, as you continue working in your own business.