A Note to All the Struggling Entrepreneurs in the World

According the Small Business Administration, almost 90% of all businesses in America fail.

When I heard that statistic, I wrote this in the hopes that someone, somewhere might read it. And that it would give them hope.

Dear Struggling Entrepreneur,

Fight. Don’t quit.

You’ve gotta be a fighter to be a successful entrepreneur. What you are doing as an entrepreneur is far too important to quit.

Entrepreneurship is hard. Just because you get to do what you want, where you want, and when you want doesn’t mean this is all cupcakes and lollipops. It’s hard.

For most of human history, the success of a nation was 100% based on its fighters. It was based on military strength. That was where a nation’s power came from.

But not anymore.

Now a nation’s strength comes from business. And it mostly comes from entrepreneurs.

Most great innovation today comes from entrepreneurs and their companies. And innovation is what changes societies.

In America, entrepreneurs are the ones who will grow the economy, slash unemployment, end poverty, get people off welfare, and probably save marriages, decrease divorce, improve our schools, and cut the murder rate.

Think that’s a stretch? Well let me tell you about where I live.

I live near an area going through a rough stretch. The homicide rate in South Fort Wayne, Indiana is higher than almost anywhere in the United States. We passed the homicide count for all of 2012 by the beginning of summer this year. I said to a friend recently, “I wonder what would happen if most of these people had $1000 in the bank or had a business?”

His response was simple: “It would change everything.” Everything.

Entrepreneurship can cut the murder rate, cut childhood obesity, and who knows…end dandruff. Entrepreneurs are the ones who will fund a cure for cancer, AIDS, and who knows what else…end the common cold.

And its not just in America. In fact, it’s even more important in emerging markets.

Big corporations paying $0.10 an hour are not going to transform Rwanda, the Congo, or Eastern Europe. It’s going to be entrepreneurs. We’re the ones who will change the world.

So keep fighting. Don’t give up and don’t get discouraged. This world needs you.

The world does need entrepreneurs. It needs entrepreneurs who don’t give up, who keep fighting, and who don’t stop until they leave a legacy.

What would you say to a struggling entrepreneur?