"Wow - I have a blog!"

If someone would have me 5 years ago (or, to be honest, even 5 months ago) that I would make just such a comment, I would have said, "What? Did you say dog or blog?" Now, I have my own website in the works(www.kurtehlert.com), am featured in two more websites (www.athleticnation.com - my franchisor, and www.triangleortho.com, my day job), and I read lots of blogs. I've learned a bunch about the web, blogs, podcasts, etc. in the last several months but, luckily for the few readers I may sweep up, that's not what this one is about. I want to "talk" about small business, entrepreneurship, franchising and all the issues that affect the small business owner. I've read some great and not so great stuff about business life over the last few years, have lived through some of the same, and I hope to add to the better side of that info here.

A little about me for those who don't know me - I am a 47 year old orthopaedic surgeon who discovered his entrepreneurial stripe a few years ago when I was "forced" to lead our then small orthopaedic group as President. I became fascinated with the workings of business - visioncasting, leadership. employee relations. I wanted to give my ideas a practical outlet and so have expanded my business world to be owner and Area Developer for the Athletic Nation Franchise Corporation, a men's personal training gym whose headquarters are located in San Jose. Our franchise is located in Cary, North Carolina, just adjacent to Raleigh. We've been open only a month and I hope to share my experiences as a "new" small business owner and freshman entrepreneur. I know it will help me to organize my feelings about business ownership and leadership in general - I just hope more people than me find it worth the bandwidth!

So, we're off!