This is perhaps the biggest thing preventing me from wanting to go into business again. Like everybody else, I've failed over and over again. I struggle with seeing my failures as "the sweat of success" because, well, failing sucks.
I wanted a thread that discusses the amount of money people have lost because it's a topic that most seem to shy away from, yet it is probably the biggest deterrent to entrepreneurship.
My goal is to not only have a place where we can share experience, but also provide hope. Parallel with that hope, we can share what we learned from our money losses.
I'll go first:
Business #1: Started a garage cleaning business at 21 years old. Money invested: $0. Loaded up my truck with household cleaning supplies and knocked on doors to advertise my services. Landed 3 clients my first week. Net gain. Should've never stopped.
Business #2: Started a digital marketing business managing PPC ads at 28 years old. Money invested: under $1,000. Joined a networking group and landed several clients my first month. Net gain. Should've never stopped.
Business #3: Started an online review platform at 28 years old. Money invested: over $5,000 of my own money and borrowed another $10,000 from a relative. No clients landed in over 2 years. Net loss. Still paying off relative. Lessons learned:
Someone once said, "I have more respect for those who mess up and have the courage to repair those mistakes; rather than those who never made the mistakes in the first place." -- Me. I said this.
I wanted a thread that discusses the amount of money people have lost because it's a topic that most seem to shy away from, yet it is probably the biggest deterrent to entrepreneurship.
My goal is to not only have a place where we can share experience, but also provide hope. Parallel with that hope, we can share what we learned from our money losses.
I'll go first:
Business #1: Started a garage cleaning business at 21 years old. Money invested: $0. Loaded up my truck with household cleaning supplies and knocked on doors to advertise my services. Landed 3 clients my first week. Net gain. Should've never stopped.
Business #2: Started a digital marketing business managing PPC ads at 28 years old. Money invested: under $1,000. Joined a networking group and landed several clients my first month. Net gain. Should've never stopped.
Business #3: Started an online review platform at 28 years old. Money invested: over $5,000 of my own money and borrowed another $10,000 from a relative. No clients landed in over 2 years. Net loss. Still paying off relative. Lessons learned:
- Just because I value something and believe I should be paid for said value, doesn't mean the market agrees. In other words, get hard-proof (sales) before investing money and definitely before borrowing money.
- I'm incredibly capable of disillusioning myself to believe my own nonsense. I should always have someone with more experience than myself, whom I trust, that I can run my ideas by.
- Never start a business in a dying industry.
Someone once said, "I have more respect for those who mess up and have the courage to repair those mistakes; rather than those who never made the mistakes in the first place." -- Me. I said this.
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