Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Jason Gorman, Founder of Jackrabbit Learning Experience, LLC, located in Boston, MA, USA.

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

Jackrabbit Learning Experience is a consulting, design, and development agency for organizations that create online courses or programs. We help our clients envision, design, and scale online learning programs tailored to their needs. We're fortunate to work with a variety of healthcare organizations, higher ed institutions, non-profits, startups, and large corporations.

For instance, we worked with Boston University to imagine, design, and quickly roll out their fully online orientation for 2020, when all of their students were remote. In healthcare, we helped Medtronic design training that ensures their diabetes patients learn how to use a new personal medical device while facilitating behavior change and feeling supported on their individual health journey.

We also worked with the incredible non-profit organization Vital Strategies and their partner, the CDC, to create a program that helps ministry-level government officials worldwide make better data-informed policy decisions.

Tell us about yourself

I started Jackrabbit LX to transform people's lives through education.
I was told in middle school that I'd never go to college. I got plugged into a new school and then graduated high school near the top of my class. I also dropped out of college before returning and dedicating my life to education. When I got off track, great learning experiences transformed my life. Education is vital, but my guess is most people reading this have had more bad experiences than great ones. I want to change that.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

From the beginning, when I was on my own, I wanted to build a company culture that people love to work in. I'm very proud of the team at Jackrabbit LX and the passion, curiosity, and talent we bring to everything we do. We've also been fortunate to work with world-class organizations to amplify their impact on the world through education.

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

Our business, like most others, is continuously evolving. As a business owner, there is always something completely new to learn or a novel challenge to solve. These things can be thrilling but uncomfortable or even scary if the stakes are high. Building the tolerance, mindset, and processes to work out of your comfort zone is something that happened gradually for me but thankfully applies to just about every aspect of life.

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

  1. Set boundaries for yourself. When you're working, be all-in and focused on your business. Also, be sure to set aside consistent time for yourself not to work. Stick to your plan. It's harder to come back from burnout than it is to take a few extra hours off during a busy period.
  2. Process is very underrated and not talked about enough as a "must-have" for small businesses. I highly recommend having clear processes for everything you do, from operations to finance to sales and marketing. It'll take time, but it'll pay you back 100x in the long run. I'd recommend picking existing systems and implementing them for areas outside your expertise. There are many great books on every aspect of running a business.
  3. It's important to pay yourself, even early on. Seriously, I know so many founders who go without income for months or years. Going without pay for too long is not healthy and could kill your love for your business. Thankfully there's a book that gives you a process for this. I highly recommend "Profit First" by Mike Michalowicz.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

I think the ultimate differentiator for any business is to be a true partner to your client or customer in solving their problem, whatever that may be. No one can replicate what you do in exactly the way you do it. There are so many tasks and obligations when you run a business, but the most important thing is to be human and bring as much value as possible to every interaction you have.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://jackrabbitlx.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jsngrmn
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpgorman/

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.

Turn your craft into recurring revenue with Subkit. Start your subscription offering in minutes and supercharge it with growth levers. Get early access here.