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Entrepreneur, speaker now author – about Jan

If you would like to know a little more about me, read on.
Courtesy Jan Cavelle

My background & And why
I champion entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship, done right, can bring personal freedom

Like many entrepreneurs, I developed an early dislike for working for other people. From an early age, I was running micro-businesses, in a wide variety of sectors, from research, selling wine, catering. The what didn’t matter. The why (freedom) did.

Bringing up children on your own creates a need for a completely different sort of business. 

One that provides for them, their needs, their futures. Children are one of the best why’s in the world to motivate you. Almost by accident, I became a different type of entrepreneur. I grew a much bigger business, which I ran for over twenty years.

During that time, I won awards various and had some amazing opportunities. Among those experiences, was joining a club of high growth entrepreneurs. This gave me the opportunity to learn huge amounts about business and make good friends along the way.

All their advice and help couldn’t divert the bad times. I stayed with the business far too long and eventually it became less successful. This resulted in my becoming burnt out. Burn out as an entrepreneur is a very easy trap to fall into. We talk a little more about the mental challenges for those with their own businesses now, but much more needs doing.

I was entirely self-taught till the later years. At that point, I was lucky to meet and learn from some of the best entrepreneurs in the UK. I became more and more fascinated with all things to do with entrepreneurship. I am full of admiration for every single person who runs their own business, large or small.

Quite early on, I was chosen as one of the first 50 Female Entrepreneurial Ambassadors to represent the UK in Europe. A major part of our brief was to encourage and nurture new entrepreneurs, speaking in schools and business groups, and mentoring when needed.

This evolved in my becoming involved with many enterprise campaigns since that time at home and globally. I passionately believe that entrepreneurship is essential for the healthy economic futures of any country. I continue to speak and do what I can to help support other people’s business journeys.

Over the years, I have spoken a lot about being an entrepreneur. This has included being invited to speak on Newsnight about the needs of SME’s more than once. I had the honor of debating against too much government interference in business at the Cambridge Union

I was part of the Women Influence Community. This is associated with the World Communication Forum. This is a group of successful women from all over the world. Together, they discuss all the ways of women can apply their influence for positive change and the benefit of humanity. 

And of course, as well as being an entrepreneur, I have always written. A lot. I contributed to Real Business in particular for many years among many other publications, while I was still running my last business.

I write for entrepreneurs and about entrepreneurs, which means I chat to fascinating, unique and brilliant people. It’s an honor and a privilege and I feel quite extra-ordinarily lucky. The kindness and generosity of the entrepreneurs I speak to continually leaves me speechless.

My first book, Scale For Success is out now. This has fulfilled a lifetime ambition for me… publications across the globe recently including; Elite Business, Irish Tech News, Medium, and the Undercover Recruiter have all cited my work. I wake up every day thinking how very lucky I am. But none of it would have happened if I hadn’t become an entrepreneur.

If I can help you in any way, or if you have an interesting story you want to share, please get in touch

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