Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Andrew Hall, Co-Founder of No Story Lost, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

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

Our business is No Story Lost - we help families capture the life stories of their loved ones and turn them into beautiful keepsake coffee table books. Our customers are families who have a loved one they want to know more about - like a parent or grandparent they love who has great stories they don't want to lose. We interview over the phone and record the conversations. Then we transcribe and clean up the writing and add photos and color to bring the stories to life.

Tell us about yourself

My family always remarked about how our grandfather had the BEST stories. And they'd always talk about how we just had to write his stories down somehow. Finally, I decided to do something about it, I sat with him and painstakingly typed out his stories while he spoke! Eventually, we cobbled together a little book with some black and white photos and gave them out to our family. Our grandpa passed away, and we're SO glad we have his stories written down safely. We loved what we made, but it was a TON of work. So, we figured out a way to take most of the work off the plate of the family and have our team do the heavy lifting. We did a few family and friend's products and then brought No Story Lost to market. I started the business with my cousin and best friend, Jeremy.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Previously, Jeremy and I both did business degrees and started a non-profit together called Mealshare, which grew to 18 employees and shared over 5,000,000 meals with youth in need while we were running it. Being able to bring a new concept like Mealshare to life, beginning when we were 23, is our biggest accomplishment to date!

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

The toughest thing we've found is running businesses that are totally new in concept. We have to educate people on what our business is, how it works, and how to get involved - all without a playbook. We consume a lot of business content, which helps a lot from a high level, but we're running businesses that haven't been done before, so we can't copy the playbook from those who have built before us.

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

  1. Don't just evaluate the business idea/opportunity - deeply evaluate what it can/will mean for you in your life. Entrepreneurship can be all-consuming at times, so think about what you'll actually be doing day-to-day, the hours, the purpose, the values - and make sure it's a great fit for YOU. A great opportunity for someone else might not be a great opportunity for you. "Maturity is the ability to forgo good opportunities to pursue great ones." Don't build yourself a nightmare.
  2. Read! I've found so much help and advice from books and from podcasts. Consume business content. I did a business degree before starting a business, and it was useful and interesting but felt remote and didn't feel tangible. Consuming content once you're actively running a business is amazing, as things are directly applicable immediately.
  3. Work with the right people. Working with people you love makes the highs better and the low points more bearable. It's a big part of loving what you do. Don't hire someone you wouldn't want as your boss, and don't work a day with someone you wouldn't work with for a year. Be picky.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://nostorylost.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NoStoryLost/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nostorylost/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nostorylost
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/no-story-lost/

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.

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