Change is in the air

by Rieva Lesonsky

A FORMER ENTREPRENEUR employee and longtime friend just became the editor of a popular decorating magazine. In her inaugural editor's note she recalled her "change-phobic" past and the day a co-worker (that would be me) left a note on her desk simply saying, "Change is good."

If you're a regular reader of Entrepreneur, you likely have already figured out the reason I mention change. This issue looks different--very different. Several months ago, I had a fairly short conversation with Carrie Fitzmaurice, Entrepreneur's publisher, and Lisa Murray, director of marketing, about tweaking Entrepreneur's look, touching it up here and there. But then I recalled the advice my grandfather gave my mom many years ago: "If you're going to do something, don't do it halfway." I realized that rather than wade in, we should just take the plunge.

This isn't the first time we've redesigned Entrepreneur and, given my penchant for change, it surely won't be the last. But this time we undertook our makeover a bit differently. In the past, we have turned to outside design consultants for a new look. This time, we reasoned, Who better understands our readers and how to address your needs than one of our own--longtime creative director Mark Kozak? So in a split-second decision, I returned to my office, yelled out, "Kozak!" (a fairly common sound heard in our office), and the process began. Being an entrepreneurial company, we're not very patient, so Kozak went into overdrive and accomplished in 12 weeks what generally takes many, many months. As you read through the issue, I think you'll agree that he (and the amazing Entrepreneur art team: Richard Olson, Matt Samarin, Vandana Devireddy, Raul Fernandez and Curtis Travis) did a masterful job.
There's a lot that's new in this issue (starting with the Entrepreneur logo on the front cover), but a lot that's familiar as well. It's more of a redecoration than a remodel. We changed type fonts and color palettes, opened the leading (the space between sentences) and updated the page layouts. But we didn't stop at just the cosmetic. Entrepreneur has always been (and still is) jam-packed with constructive, pragmatic information to help you grow your business, but we never seemed to have enough space to feature business owners. Now each of the main sections--Tech, Money, Lead (formerly Management) and Sell (formerly Marketing)--kicks off with a new column, Snapshot, featuring noteworthy entrepreneurs who are making a mark in those fields.

In another change, the section formerly known as Smarts is now Forward. Though the name (and layout) is different, you'll still find the same excellent mix of news, trends and ideas to give you a jump on what's new in the world of entrepreneurship.

Most people think all entrepreneurs automatically embrace change. But the truth is, while some jump at the chance to transform, others fear the unknown. As change advocates, we strongly believe change should play a major part in all entrepreneurs' businesses, for, as noted author Gail Sheehy once wrote, "If we don't change, we don't grow."