Success stories also instructional stories

Phil Castle

I love telling stories. I love even more telling success stories. The ones about entrepreneurs whose confidence in their abilities to provide better products and services, their willingness to take risks and then put in a whole lot of work results in financial and personal rewards. 

Such stories offer not only compelling content for a business journal, but also instructive content for readers who include business owners and managers. There are lessons to be learned small and large, whether they’re about a particular production technique or marketing strategy or an entire operational model or even industry sector.

I’m no expert. I have no management experience. I hold a college degree in journalism, not business administration.
But I’ve gleaned some things over the more than 20 years I’ve spent talking to entrepreneurs and writing stories about their efforts.

The most successful entrepreneurs act on their ideas. They take risks, but do so in ways that take into account realistic assessments of their prospects and their markets. They seek out resources, whether that’s other entrepreneurs who serve as mentors or organizations and government agencies that provide assistance. They value employees and treat them like family members working toward goals that will benefit them all. Invariably, successful entrepreneurs also give back to the communities in which they live and do business.

I’ve been fortunate to meet and write about many entrepreneurs who’ve followed this pattern. More, in fact, than I could ever list. One comes to mind, though, as I complete an edition of the Business Times that includes a story about Jerome Gonzales and J.G. Management Systems. 

I’ve followed the evolution of JGMS since shortly after Jerome started the company in 2001. I’ve written stories about the inclusion of JGMS in the Inc. magazine listings of the fastest-growing companies in the United States and the numerous accolades Jerome and JGMS have received over the years. I checked in with Jerome when JGMS marked 10 years in business and then again when the company passed the 20-year milestone.

Every entrepreneur and every business is unique. But the story about Jerome and JGMS touches on those similarities I’ve written about with other successful operations. The commitment to customer service and delivering on promises.
A culture that values employees as part of a workplace family. And a commitment to giving back and supporting community efforts. Jerome measures success in terms of not only doing well, but also doing good.

I can only hope as editor of a business journal, people enjoy reading my stories as much as I enjoy telling them. But those stories also constitute news they can use.

I love telling stories. Especially success stories. So often, they’re instructional stories.