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Alex Farcet (Q): Can you give me your background? What's the story up to the creation of Iværksætteren.
Jesper H Andersen (A): I have a double master degree (business and languages) from Copenhagen Business School and Ecole de Management de Lyon. I started the magazine after concluding my studies.
(Q): Did you ever have a 'corporate' job?
(A): No. I did a half year internship with Paribas (now BNP Paribas) in Paris, this is the closest I got...
(Q): You narrowly avoided the bank world, good for you!
(A): Yes... I was not satisfied with working in a large hierarchy...
(Q): So when did you start Iværksætteren and why?
(A): The magazine was born in May 2003. I wanted to create a magazine where entrepreneurs could learn from each other's experiences. Newspapers mostly write from the news perspective, and life style magazine are interested in how much money the entrepreneur makes, and how he/she spends it. But we were lacking a magazine to write about all the business stuff.
(Q): How did you start? What was the first issue like? Did you raise money? How did you figure out where to get it printed, how to distribute it?
(A): I was unable to get a bank loan. My personal banker didn't believe in the magazine project and suggested I get a job fast to repay the loans I had accrued during my studies. So, realizing that no one was going to finance the project, I had to make the project self-financing. I sold the ads necessary to finance the publication of the first issues.
I was referred to a good printer through a friend who worked in this industry. I later found a new and cheaper printer
(Q): Did you take on any staff?
(A): No - there was no money to pay them with, whatsoever. I tried to convince some design students to design the magazine in return for exposure, but no one thought this proposition worthwhile. I also had to sell the ads myself. I had gained sufficient experience to do so during a 3 month employment at a telemarketing agency, where I had learned to close a deal on the phone. This experience is one of the main reasons why I succeeded.
(Q): You wrote, edited, did the layout all by yourself?
(A): I made use of a number of freelance journalists. No-one wants to read a magazine that is written entirely by one person, so this was crucial for the quality of the magazine. But I bought a couple of books about how to layout magazines and started out with InDesign, which is actually not much harder than Word.
Most magazines look alike, so obviously everyone is stealing from one another....
After about 3 years in operation the magazine was redesigned by a pro. Now it is being layed out in Argentina.
(Q): And today, do you have any staff?
(A): Today I employ three students part-time. But I have outsourced most of the tasks. The magazine is being layed out in Argentina, the ads are being sold by a media agency on Østerbro, and I still make heavy use of freelance writers. So I am left with editing and writing some of the articles. I enjoy writing, so I will probably keep doing this. But I hope to employ an editor within the next half year or so.
(Q): That's impressive, Jesper. What circulation have you reached? And are you still mostly ad financed?
(A): We now have a circulation of 6.000 copies. We are financed by both ads and subscriptions.
(Q): One more question about Iværksætteren - are you feeling the pinch? The newspaper / magazine business is a tough industry to survive in.
(A): Currently we are not experiencing any change in sales. Many people are being laid off these days, and I think that a proportion of these will try their luck as entrepreneurs. These are potential customers for us. Of course this is also a hard time to finance a startup if you don't have savings, but I expect these two adverse forces to balance more or less
(Q): Morten Lund (who also had a go at the newspaper business, with less good fortune…) also said recently that this is the time when real entrepreneurs will emerge.
(A): I agree
(Q): How do you plan the content of Iværk? Do you know already now what will be in the magazine 2-3 issues from now?
(A): We plane the themes up to one year ahead and the main articles app. 3 issues ahead. The rest is planned app. 2 months ahead - we have a long production time.
(Q): What are some upcoming themes?
(A): Education, Business Software, Internationalisation
(Q): About education, what's your view of entrepreneurial education? Is it possible to someone to become an entrepreneur or are they born that way? And what good education / training is there in Denmark?
(A): There is an increased focus on entrepreneurship training. I view this as a positive development. But I think it is true for all trades, that some students will excel and only need a little (or no) guidance, while others will no do as well. We have a very interesting article in the coming issue (March 09) on this subject. I think it is pretty clear from the evidence that you can enhance both interest in the subject and the entrepreneurs chances of success.
(Q): You've interviewed or covered dozens of entrepreneurs, who made the biggest impression on you?
(A): I think maybe Christian Normann from iCommerce (Paris)
I like those who remain humble to their own success.
(Q): What was impressive about Christian Normann?
(A): There are two ways to look at this question: A business perspective and a personal perspective. Most of the entrepreneurs we portray are impressive from a business perspective.
To mount a successful business, you need a number of qualifications
You need to understand the business you are in, you need to be able to build an organisation that works (organisational skills), and you need general social skills.