www.firstnationstelegraph.com
Challenges of starting First Nations Telegraph
by Stephen Hagan fter five weeks of creating and operating our small business, from an idea, Rhonda and I reflect on the challenges – peaks and troughs – to which there have been some invigorating highs and some discomfiting lows to contend with along the way. In many ways the initial high for us was in making that collective decision to simply have ‘a go’ and to ‘chance it’. We both had confidence in our own ability in the media business of being up to the task at hand in setting up our unique enterprise. We were conscious that breaking new ground as the first ever free First Nations daily e-newspaper was a venture into the unknown, but then again
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we’ve never been shy of leaping into the dark before. To the latter point the risk of taking on a new venture was measured as we consciously adopted the old adage, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. We went into setting up First Nations Telegraph with our eyes wide open by doing the research, engaging a mentor and completing a comprehensive business plan to appreciate the challenges ahead and to mitigate disappointments from unforeseen hurdles. It mattered that we both wanted a career change and 100% ownership of a new enterprise. We were at that stage in our lives where our children had finished secondary schooling and are happily
settled into university studies and thought we should test the water of small business by metaphorically dipping our toes into the still waters of something different. Previously we were content to work for others and happily maintained that status quo of financial security for the kid’s sake. We also agreed at this junction in our lives that we just couldn’t put up with working for anyone else anymore. We chose a path not predicated on making money for others whilst on a set wage nor at the whim of the vagaries of management indecision. From nervously conceptualizing the business in its infancy we are today happily appreciating seeing Page 1
it materialize in popularity as it resonates with our growing national readership. Promoting First Nations daily news – free of charge to our readers - through our website, Facebook and Twitter appear to have gained traction with our weekly figures far exceeding our principal rivals in the First Nations media industry. It continues to grow exponentially by the week – and we’re still only five week’s old. Where once I was a confessed social media dinosaur, I’m now – out of necessity as a business owner – well versed in the nuances of those mediums. I initially thought the website would be our principal means of generating readership numbers from, but I soon discovered that Facebook, in particular, reign supreme as the King of social media. The inherent feature of instantaneous messaging that Facebook - and Twitter for that matter - provides users and consumers alike with is the secret to the business we’re in. I often marvel at the immediacy of respondents to our daily news uploads. Our routine of posting daily news items on Facebook and Twitter is a case in point. It takes no more than a couple of minutes to upload stories and images or links to Facebook and Twitter and by the time we go back to see if there has been any responses to our first post – we’re astounded that as many as a 100 people ‘saw this’ or ‘like this’ or ‘shared this’. I don’t know of another medium where you can get such instant gratification from your effort. I know now why the popular social medium of Facebook was the last thing Rhonda accessed (viewed) before she went to sleep at night and the first thing she viewed (turned on) when she woke in the morning. I actually thought – although I
dared not tell her at that time – that she had an unhealthy addiction to social media. Mind you this was before I even knew what Facebook was or why its appeal was universally revered – as I do now. With our corporate image (logo and web design) receiving the thumbs up and sponsorship enquiries turning into positive outcomes, our vision is starting to be realized. Cash flow, or lack thereof, is an angst to which all proprietors experience from time to time and how one is able to sustain their operations through the peaks and troughs really determines the longevity of their business. We’re learning fast in this facet of small business operations. The down side for starting a new business is the fact that 1 in 3 businesses fail in their first three years. The upside to the very high failure rate is that around two thirds of small businesses survive and some
go on to prosper and expand. Being forever the guy with the glass half full approach in life it’s very comforting to have Rhonda as a business partner with her more conservative outlook in business that isn’t always so rosy. Her constant worrier disposition adds to thrill of the chase. In that regard I know I’ve got the best business partner in the world who keeps me grounded. Sharing of present anxieties and embracing ambitious future plans are crucial determinants to our collective decision making processes. At the end of the day we’re both reminded of why we got into business in the first place – and that was to become risk takers into the world of the unknown and to come out the other end happy, wiser and wealthier. Or as country and western legend Dolly Parton once said: “If you want the rainbow you’ve got to put up with the rain”.