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Education

StreetSmarts SM

What it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur

By Dee and Emily Karawadra being an entrepreneur was when I was 16, I decided to
Impact PaySystem get into the technology world and became a reseller for
a pager/beeper company. This was my first experience
he Oxford dictionary defines resilience as the being a reseller. I had to set up shop in my bedroom
ability to withstand or recover quickly from programming pagers, mailing invoices and doing tech
difficult conditions. Having been entrepreneurs support. I got the taste of being my own boss, and I
T for over 30 years, Dee can tell you that you can't liked it. Unfortunately for my big idea, cell phone
be one without resilience. technology came along shortly thereafter, pushing my
service to be obsolete.
There is no doubt that every entrepreneur fails at least
once, most likely multiple times before finding success. Over the years I have owned and operated many
Reflecting on his work, Thomas Edison said, "I have not businesses. Some succeeded; others did not. In my
failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won't work." This earlier years, I was trying to find my niche. I had a
is a quote we use around our office often. mobile pressure washing business where I learned
what real sweat and tears are. This was a great business
Learn from mistakes but one that required physical labor and, although I am
not opposed to physical labor, I knew I would wear and
If we don't succeed or find the right solution, at least we tear. That business was not a failure but one I knew I
know what won't work. Part of pushing your boundaries could not physically sustain long-term.
is exhausting all options. Here's a personal experience
from Dee: I then was introduced to the payment industry where
I found my passion. These are just a few of my past
Before I entered the payments industry, I tried my experiences that helped prepare me to work with
hand at several businesses. My first experience at Emily to own and build our own independent sales
organization.

Get back up
Each of us is an entrepreneur
married to an entrepreneur. Few of us are born with the kind of resilience needed to
be an entrepreneur. Look at Steve Jobs and his story. His
The highs and lows of this situation career at Apple wasn't a string of successes start to finish.
can be hard on any marriage or Along the way, some of his design ideas weren't well
received at Apple or by the public, so he went elsewhere.
business partnership. He continued to craft his designs and technology until he

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