{"id":3492,"date":"2017-07-11T07:51:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T06:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/amdf-centre.org\/?p=3492"},"modified":"2026-07-05T20:13:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:13:51","slug":"how-one-freelancer-is-making-the-jump-to-media-entrepreneurship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amdf-centre.org\/2017\/07\/11\/how-one-freelancer-is-making-the-jump-to-media-entrepreneurship\/","title":{"rendered":"How one freelancer is making the jump to media entrepreneurship"},"content":{"rendered":"
Clothilde Goujard<\/a> | July 10, 2017<\/div>\n
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Beenish Ahmed is an international freelance journalist. She has reported on a number of topics from vodou in Haiti to education in Pakistan for renowned outlets such as NPR, The New Yorker and The Atlantic.<\/p>\n

Now, Ahmed<\/a> is an entrepreneur \u2014 or at least that is what she hopes to be if her media project \u201cThe Alignist<\/a>\u201d gets the required startup funds through her crowdfunding campaign.<\/p>\n

While it seemed like a big career move at first, Ahmed has realized there are many parallels between entrepreneurship and freelance journalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me before (making this project), there was a huge divide (between being a freelance journalist and an entrepreneur),\u201d she said. \u201cBut it\u2019s been really encouraging to realize the divide may not be as big. There are still going to be challenges … but it\u2019s not completely new terrain.\u201d<\/p>\n

The idea for her startup came as she realized her frustration with the somewhat superficiality of international news reporting. She said the coverage sometimes goes from \u201cheadline to headline without getting that deeper understanding\u201d about the cultural aspects of a country or the day-to-day struggle and concerns of its citizens.<\/p>\n

She figured fiction could be a way to fill that gap. As a freelance journalist, she would read a novel before going to the area in which she was reporting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started to think about the power of literature to inform and engage in a way that\u2019s related to reporting but also different,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She envisioned \u201cThe Alignist\u201d as a subscription to \u201cconnect novels to the news and experience new worlds,\u201d she said. Every other month, a subscriber would get a novel and products from a country along with information about that place such as a map and access to a Q&A with the author and experts on the issue approached in the novel.<\/p>\n

But there were many daring questions: Was she sure she could do it? Did she really want to become an entrepreneur?<\/p>\n

She started conceptualizing the project and what it would entail. She read books about business and listened to podcasts on marketing because she said it is a \u201chuge component.\u201d She also interacted with Subscription School<\/a>, an online community for people who work on subscription-based business models, which was how she envisioned her strategy.<\/p>\n

But thinking of herself as an entrepreneur was her biggest challenge, even if as a freelance journalist she felt she knew about managing a brand, invoices and finances, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took some time to connect those dots and make sense of feeling like I was equipped to do this already in some way,\u201d she acknowledged.<\/p>\n

Planning for her business took longer than expected because of decisions about graphics, the logo and pricing. She also took time to listen to advice and input from the online community as well as friends and family about everything from shipping costs to boxes.<\/p>\n

She had wanted to have only one subscription offer, but when a friend told her she thought she wouldn\u2019t be able to afford it, Ahmed started thinking about the accessibility of her project. She adapted her pricing strategy to add another cheaper subscription offer.<\/p>\n

Another important thing that kept her going was the podcast \u201cHow I Built This<\/a>.\u201d It was a motivation for when she was \u201cfeeling low\u201d about her new work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s beneficial (because) it asks the big questions,\u201d she explained. \u201dWhat does it take to be an entrepreneur? What are the particular skills you need, and what are the skills you learn along the way? And that\u2019s really been beneficial to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her Kickstarter campaign has less than a month to go, but Ahmed is positive about the experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI may not reach my goals, and that\u2019s OK because what I\u2019m learning is that a business is a beautiful thing,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd if I reach my goals, it means there\u2019s a market for this and people are excited by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Images courtesy of Beenish Ahmed.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n