A few months ago, my class was introduced to this project. We were told to create a research project, and that we had the freedom to choose essentially whatever topic we wanted. Immediately my thoughts became focused on everything that I am mentally lacking. Knowledge that has the potential to drastically improve my life. ‘I am being given the motivation to actually achieve some level of understanding. So what will my focus be?’ Few answers came to mind. The most prominent being: How to build a business/ company. I have known for a very long time that there is absolutely zero interest in my heart, soul; entire being to be an employee; make money for someone else (at least in the long term). That’s all great, but to achieve that I need to be able to make it for myself. What better way than to just make the company? This project is the perfect way to start learning, and therefore became my topic. Obviously, ‘how to build a business’ is a loaded topic, and I needed to narrow it down. Therefore, implementing the second thing I have known for a very long time: I want to work in fashion; be a designer. Perfect! I can research how to create a fashion brand I can design for. The second aspect of this project was to present my findings in the genre of my choosing. To make that choice, I considered how I can both provide the necessary information, while still learning in the process. In my opinion, the best way to learn is to do. I initially decided to attempt founding a business and blog about all the steps I take, along with outcomes and challenges. As I was just writing about my experience, the readers could see me as a very credible source. I was not trying to make claims about what I thought I knew. It was solely supposed to be personal observations. As I began, and the days went by, it became increasingly clear that time would be a huge issue. Surprise! Surprise! Building a business takes an extremely long time. I don’t know what I thought I would accomplish in the weeks that I worked on this project. However, it certainly was not enough to create sufficient content for my blog. Each little thing was extremely tedious, time consuming, and generally uninteresting. I decided to change course. Because it was unrealistic to accomplish enough to blog about, I began providing general information on the steps I would be taking, if I had sufficient time. Instead of a step by step guide, I ended up providing key insights into each broader phase. Because I was no longer narrating my journey and therefore was not a reliable narrator, I switched to providing the most logical information. I first did what I could in the time I had, and then proceeded to expand on what I would do in the future, based on my research. Each blog post, after my introduction, discussed one general phase in the growth process and contained specific details and insights. While people who may be completely lost want a universal step by step guide; it may not exist. Before coming to that conclusion, my nerves ran high out of the possibility that I may not be able to accomplish this task. With each aspect being so interchangeable, my blog may actually be equally helpful to those looking for guidance in building their own businesses. While for what it is, I did a good job, I would have made different choices if I had more time. I really liked the idea of me starting my business and taking my readers with me for the ride. I could have had the time to wait for everything to be processed. I could have taken time to intricately go through every aspect; make mistakes, and learn how to correct them. In my opinion, that would have made for a superior blog. It was difficult to let go of that prospect, but I eventually had to accept that it wasn’t possible, and make the best out of it. All that being said, I am happy with the result. Looking back, I probably should have chosen a less time consuming genre, or a more easily digestible topic.
