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.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Access Restricted: Unlock 1,000,000+ Posts
Stop Peeking Through the Keyhole.
Open the Door.
You hit a wall because the best advice isn't free—it's earned. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has been active here daily (99.9% active rate), building a war room for entrepreneurs who refuse to settle for mediocrity.
- Active Daily: Life-changing content posted dozens of times every day. No dead threads.
- MJ's Inner Circle: Direct access to the author of The Millionaire Fastlane.
- Vetted Network: Connect with founders scaling to 7 and 8 figures.
- Proven Roadmaps: Strategy over motivation. Execution over "hustle porn."
"SCALED TO 6-FIGURE MONTHS"
"Tips and advice here saved me from huge mistakes, others allowed me to scale my business to 6-figure months."— User MitchC
"INSANE QUALITY OF PEOPLE"
"The number of high quality people I've met from this forum has been insane. All of it predicated on building real value."— User Richard Peck
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with."
Are you surrounding yourself with success?

