09/ 26/ 2007
by Rex Hammock, Editor & Publisher
Have you ever visited the Web site Snopes.com? It's a fun and helpful Web site that debunks urban legends--those fast-moving rumors and "friend-of-a-friend" myths that have always been around but now move at light-speed via e-mail, blogs and online forums.
Several months ago, during a conversation with the experts on small-business research at the NFIB Research Foundation, I mentioned that I was tired of seeing news stories in the general media that include, as fact, "urban legends" about small business. "Why," I asked, "do I always see ‘experts' claim the failure rate of business startups is much higher than easily accessible statistics (from NFIB and the Small Business Administration, for example) reveal?"
That conversation led to the article in this issue, "Debunking Small-Business Myths," in which we take a closer look at that inflated failure-rate myth and other small-business urban legends. In the future, we will look for other myths to bust.
In reality, it's difficult to tell the small-business story by aggregating disparate statistics and concluding universal truths. That is the reason we use each issue of MyBusiness to focus on individual small businesses and the men and women who own and run them.
The potential for success--or failure--is, in the end, up to the unique circumstances, challenges and opportunities that each person steps into when he starts his small-business journey. Each new opportunity and challenge we face along that path motivates us in different ways. How we respond is the focus of the feature "Taking the Plunge." In it, we talk with the owners of three successful small businesses to learn what motivated them--no matter what the odds--to take the leap into business ownership.
Finally, I wanted to mention that I'm proud of the talented writers, designers, photographers and illustrators who contribute to each issue of MyBusiness, and I'm always happy when that work is honored with magazine industry awards. So I'm happy to congratulate Harvey King, who pens our "MyWay" humor column, which was recently named the top business column in the nation by the American Society of Business Publication Editors.
