I doubt there are more than two or three people that notice the small bit of info on the SOKY Happenings Contents page that tells the volume and issue numbers. Heck, most people in today’s world don’t even know why it is there or what it means.
If you look in this issue you will see that information tells us the June issue is Volume 19 and Issue 1. What this means is SOKY Happenings is starting its 19th year in business. I wonder if David and Carrie, the couple who founded SOKY, had any dreams their brainchild would survive that long. I know that was one of the things Twila and I discussed when we adopted SOKY Happenings… looking at the future of the Bowling Green area and the expectations in the print communications world… would SOKY last long enough to offer us a return on our investment.
If you look at the research, the average lifespan of a small business is 8.5 years. Approximately 20% of new startups fail in the first year and only 50% survive five years and 33% last until their 10th birthday. All the more reason to be so proud of SOKY Happenings making it through 18 years… especially through some extremely challenging times.
For those of you who aren’t serial entrepreneurs like Twila and me… owning and running a small business is definitely not for the faint of heart. It requires long hours and, if you hope to be successful, a love of what you are doing. For the past 14 years we have loved publishing SOKY every month. If you have paid attention to the media and advertising business, you have seen local newspapers reducing services or closing all over the country. Most magazines have moved to web-only or gone out of business as well. But SOKY Happenings has endured.
SOKY has survived numerous business recessions and downturns and amazingly survived the COVID times without missing a single issue. That is something of which we are extremely proud and have our wonderful readers, sponsors and friends to thank. Several local businesses helped us deliver SOKY in nontraditional ways to their customers and our amazing sponsors stuck with us during those dark times.
I consider SOKY Happenings a triangle of success. Our team gathers and publishes the numerous articles and art each month… our sponsors provide ads and info that pays for publishing the magazine, and our wonderful readers enjoy the magazine and support our sponsors. You hear so much about how print has lost readership, but SOKY Happenings continues to be extremely popular throughout the entire area with readership the same or higher than some years ago.
So, I say all that to say… Happy 19th Birthday SOKY Happenings. The entire SOKY Team is extremely proud of our magazine and very thankful to the sponsors and readers who have made it such a success. Here’s to 19 more great years!
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