Why Renew Prosper

The gaps we see, the bet we’re making, and why now.

The Gaps

Most entrepreneurs don’t fail for lack of effort. They stumble for five predictable reasons:

1. Lack of market demand

2. Poor financial management

3. Inadequate business planning

4. Ineffective marketing and sales

5. Lack of adaptability

Business has its own vocabulary and rules. If you don’t speak the language, the game looks random and frustrating. Many people do not know the difference between revenue and net income.

In marketing, what is A/B testing? What is the difference between a social graph and an interest graph. What do we mean by lifetime value (LTV)? In sales, what is objection handling? In recurring-revenue models, what does ARR (annual recurring revenue) measure?

In finance, what’s a J-curve? (hint: it’s the total amount of money you may lose before the business gains traction and starts digging out.) Many would-be founders don’t understand that one concept; they run out of cash on an otherwise good idea and shut down.

This lack of business literacy shouldn’t surprise us. It isn’t taught in high school. You can earn a business degree and still not learn how to found, fund, and run a small business.

Formal programs tend to prepare you to be a cog in a large, functioning machine, not a solo founder juggling every hat.

You can even attend an elite business school, get an MBA, and still miss what you need to avoid failing at self-employment. That’s a problem.

A Candid Rant

If the following doesn’t resonate, Renew Prosper may not be for you. We’re passionate about this: when someone fails as an independent contractor, entrepreneur, or small-business owner, the damage is real and widespread.

There was a coffee shop in Ladera Ranch, where we used to live. It was adorable but tucked off a main street. After two years of hard work, the owner closed. She told us she and her husband lost $1 million and two years of their lives trying to make it work. That financial loss does not include the opportunity cost of her earning elsewhere.

Or, consider a mid-level executive laid off in their early fifties. Retirement isn’t an option; savings aren’t enough. They tap their 401(k) to start or buy a business. If it fails, they’re in the same place as that coffee shop owner — only worse. Now, in their late fifties, they’re tired, discouraged, their confidence is shaken and they're left asking, “How are we going to afford old age?”

Family stress rises. So do marital tensions. Kids worry about whether they'll get to go to college.

Sadly, these and other similar stories are reality for some of my friends. This, in part, is what inspired me to create Renew Prosper. 

Small business failures are not okay. We can do better!

People become entrepreneurs for many reasons: can’t find a job, don’t want a boss, have a better idea, want to change the world.

The most compelling reason? Owning a meaningful stake in a profitable business is one of the few reliable ways to build real wealth.

(In a future post, I'll explain why major asset classes can look flatter than expected when you adjust for inflation. I’ll link it here when it’s live.)

Regardless of your motivation or back story, most aspiring entrepreneurs don’t know what they don’t know.

• Missing business vocabulary? That’s a problem.

• Not enough startup capital? Also a problem.

Our mission: reduce unnecessary business failure, suffering, and wasted time, so people enjoy making a living and build real wealth.

One of my mentors, Dan Sullivan, says entrepreneurs run toward problems to help, like firefighters running into a burning building when everyone else is rushing out.

At Renew Prosper, our goals are to help you:

1. Assess viability accurately. If it’s viable, let’s go. If it isn’t, hard stop.

2. Gain the right skills quickly. No degrees, no student loans, just practical knowledge to thrive in the coming AI world.

3. Design simple systems for time freedom. Without systems, self-employment can become a worse job than the one you left.

One of the biggest solopreneur mistakes is believing, “If it’s meant to be, it’s up to me.” Tenacity matters. Accountability matters. But there is more to the story.

The most successful people in the world build high-trust relationships, get coached, and plug into communities of like-minded strivers.

Even elite athletes have multiple coaches. They never stop learning or refining their game.

The Bet

Our bet is that we can make a difference. Renew Prosper provides coaching, tools, and resources you can actually use. Want to learn more? Click here. 

What most improves a solopreneur’s (entrepreneur's) odds*.

• Large, expanding markets

• Aligned timing and trends

• Proper leverage

• A distinct offer

And in 2024–2025, a new difference-maker: using AI as a teammate.

How we help you crash less and succeed more:

• Early-stage: build competency across eight key pillars to avoid unforced errors.

• AI: crawl, walk, run. Treat AI like a teammate with our pre-written prompts and tools. We constantly hear, “I had no idea I could use it like this.”

• Simple cadence: assess, focus, and build weekly; small wins that compound.

The bet we’re making: with the right tools, systems, and community, fewer businesses fail and more thrive. Less heartache, more profit.

Why Now

2024-2025 is a turning point. AI tools have matured, costs have dropped, and anyone can use them. Yet many so-called 'transformational' programs assume you already have a team, revenue, and spare time.

Most solo founders don’t have excess time, people, or energy. They need a simpler start, a lighter lift, and plain-English guidance that respects their expertise while addressing unknowns.

Our niche. We serve:

• Solo founders and independent professionals (1099 / Schedule C)

• Micro-businesses with 1–2 employees

• Typically operating under $1M - $2M in revenue

We’re building the missing rung on the ladder, a place to start cleanly, learn fundamentals, and adopt AI safely.

Mission, Vision, Values

Mission: Help early-stage entrepreneurs fail less, succeed more, and enjoy the journey by mastering essentials and using AI wisely.

Vision: A world where small, new businesses are literate, resilient, and AI-capable, creating prosperity without burnout.

Values:

• Integrity first

• Continuous learning

• Long-term perspective

Want to learn what we are about, click here.

Why the Name: Renew Prosper

This could be an entire eBook (hmm…). Renew speaks to the magic of being alive. Every day we can change how we think, how we operate, with whom, and why.

Each of us has dozens of thoughts and habits that no longer serve us or the people we love. The good news: we can pause, breathe, pivot, learn, and get different outcomes.

For context, to see what sacred texts across history have said about renew and prosper, click here.

Prosper implies wealth, but true wealth is multidimensional. My mentor, Lee Brower, outlines four forms of wealth: values, experiences, contribution, and financial. We aim to help people prosper in that broader sense.

Renewal and prosperity aren’t worth much if they come at the expense of health, values, or relationships and leave you wrecked, forced to start over. We’re after something better: sustainable success that benefits everyone involved.

Next Steps

Lasting transformation happens in community. We’ll teach you how to use today’s tools so you struggle less and thrive more. But remember: it’s only lonely at the top if you don’t bring your friends.

Join us. Elevate your game. Make new friends. Contribute more to the people and causes you care about.

Yours to count on,

 --Kent Kopen, Founder

TLDR

• Self-employment done wrong can wreck you.

• Done right, it can build real (inflation-adjusted) wealth.

• The two biggest levers: business literacy and AI fluency.

• Renew | Prosper offers a crawl-first, practical path to both.

• Start small, build weekly, compound wins.

*Credit Tim Sales and Dr. Charles King for creating Brilliant Compensation, which summarizes business basics better than a whole semester of college.

*To be clear, I am not against college, I'm against college debt.