Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jackson Foster, Founder of Edily, located in San Francisco, CA, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

We are Edily, a short-form user-generated video app for education! We are serving educational content creators, teachers, and students. Plus, parents love us, too!

Tell us about yourself

My high school English teacher, Ms. Purcell, started her story wanting to make a difference through education. She realized she could expand her impact by teaching her students to affect change as well. She made sure every student who came through her classroom knew what a gift education was and understood the impact they could have by giving back to others and creating changes for good. She was an influencer of her time. Today, even the most inspirational teachers influence 3,000 students on average in their careers, and influencers on social platforms often reach millions. 79% of students say that a teacher encouraged them to follow their dreams. What about the other 21%? We are building this platform for inspirational teachers to help teens discover their skills and passions.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Publishing an app to the app store that I product managed. I learned so much from just that alone and have learned so much more from everything involved in setting up and running a business from scratch.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Dealing with delays, setbacks, and the early stages where success is uncertain. I think it takes a lot of dedication and mental fortitude to push forward an unproven vision, especially if you're going unpaid at first like I have been.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Find the right business partners upfront. I think it's so important for me to have a cofounder to balance you. I honestly wish I had another one on the engineering side! Luckily, we have some great engineering employees as well, but a cofounder is a different relationship.
  2. Create your vision statements up front and remind yourself of those statements along the way. Keep reminding everyone else of those vision statements, too!
  3. When you need a rest, take it. This doesn't mean slack off because if you don't push your business forward, no one will, but don't feel too guilty sleeping in one day if it helps you feel rested.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

I'm very curious about how entrepreneurs learn entrepreneurship. We learn so much by doing, but how can we catalyze that learning for new entrepreneurs? If you have your favorite sources for learning entrepreneurship, please reach out and share them with me via Twitter DM!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://edily.io/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackf1116/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TJFIV
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tjacksonfoster/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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