Mentally and Financially Recovering From a Failed Business?

[Zac Headrick]

That can be dangerous. Go after a MARKET.

I agree with you to some extent, but also have seen a lot of people fail around me because they thought the "Market" was good but didn't have enough passion behind the problem they are trying to solve and that results in a lot of mistakes.

Some people don't need this, they are so intrinsically motivated they can fight through every f'ng obstacle that comes there way just to with the motivation of running a successful business. Most people are not built that way.

There are a lot of entrepreneurs out there who make money in an industry or business they enjoy and are passionate about.

There are a lot of ways to skin a cat, here is what I recommend and what has worked for me.

List the industries you WANT to be in. Something that excites you or you have experience in. Usually you will have the best chance of being able to solve a problem in these industries and the best chance of staying with all the challenges that come with starting a business.

Next work on uncovering the problem or pain you are going to solve.

Last, use feedback and customer interaction to come up with your business model and study the business models out there that you would like to emulate.

Of course if you can't uncover a problem you want to solve in one of those industries, you have to move on and find a different industry which may not excite you as much. In this scenario I recommend finding a partner after you find the problem you want to go after. Someone with experience and energy about that industry.

Here is my personal disclaimer: There are hundreds of different ways to start a successful business and there isn't always a right way. This is what has worked for me, my mentors, and the people I mentor. I see the success rate shoot up when you start with an industry or market that excites you vs. only focusing on a market you can make money.

-Zac

 

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[Zac Headrick]

That can be dangerous. Go after a MARKET.

If one were to follow the steps I laid out in the post it actually is not dangerous at all. You would have done the due diligence in said market and had paying customers before launching your business.

However it doesn't always work this way and you may find that the markets you want to be in don't have a specific problem you can solve or you can't identify one. In that case you will have to move on but I always recommend starting there. Again, that is just what has worked for me so it comes from my perspective, I'm sure many others have had success with choosing the Market first and that is okay too. There isn't a right way, just a way.

 

[Get Right]

List the industries you WANT to be in. Something that excites you or you have experience in. Usually you will have the best chance of being able to solve a problem in these industries and the best chance of staying with all the challenges that come with starting a business.

I am super passionate about recycling. I had a GREAT idea. I built a half-million dollar company around it.

It FAILED. Reason - the MARKET didn't give one flip about my passion.

 

[mentalic]

I will describe my experience for my recently failed business. I dropped all my freelance clients on February to pursue a business that I ended last week (four months later). I spent probably about 10k of my own money (car included). I haven't lost a cent however. I consider that 10k a 'street' MBA and move on. The experience and education someone gains from running a business (even a failed one) is invaluable. Fortuanatelly my old clients welcomed me, financially I might be 'behind' 1-2 years, but as a person, I think that I am different.

I assume that you have had similar experience, however you should change your point of view (maybe ignore what your network is telling you?). Failing is education as soon as you recognise the failure. Failure is REAL FAILURE only if you don't recognise the bad stuff. Replenish your powers and try again.

 

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[Zac Headrick]

I am super passionate about recycling. I had a GREAT idea. I built a half-million dollar company around it.

It FAILED. Reason - the MARKET didn't give one flip about my passion.

I feel you @Get Right. But this experience you had is why causing you to look at opportunities from a certain perspective and lens.

Just because it didn't work for you, doesn't mean it doesn't work.

I know several individuals worth 8 figures that have built businesses around opportunities that they are interested in and passionate about. They are looking through a different lens because of their success pursuing this strategy and would give different advice. Doesn't mean their advice is right either.

Their advice to me was good, it made sense, and I chose to follow it. So far it has paid off extremely well.

As I said before. I don't believe their is a right way, just a way.

I'm highly skeptical of anyone that claims to have the only way.

-Zac

 

[Get Right]

It's a lot easier to sell something people want instead of what I want.

If that happens to be the same thing, then great.

 

[throttleforward]

I think the point you're making Zac is that given there are nearly endless opportunities in all industries, it makes sense to focus your initial business efforts on industries where you have experience and interests. Then you search for needs within that industry, independent of your own passions. You see this on Shark Tank all the time - these guys say "I have no knowledge of the X industry, so I'm out" or "I think you have a great business, but I have no passion for X, and I need to be passionate about what I'm doing. I'm out." Obviously passion for serving the need that others have identified is a contributing factor to success.

I think the point Get Right is making is that many people approach it from a slightly different but fatal perspective. They don't say "I want to serve an industry I'm already participating in - I don't care what needs are uncovered, I'm going to fill them"...they say "I want to do X because I'm passionate about X" without asking their preferred industry whether they want X. Instead of starting a recycling business based on his own ideas and passion, he should have let his passion for recycling fuel his search for real needs to be solved within that industry, as validated by those who are willing to pay for solutions.

 

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[Bigguns50]

ATTENTION EVERYONE

Seriously great thread and postings ! I started quoting some of you and quickly realized there were just too damn many to quote.
Heartfelt, insightful, experienced, knowledgeable, honest postings.

And @Zac Headrick ... you should be on the Inside brother.

 

[Zac Headrick]

I think the point you're making Zac is that given there are nearly endless opportunities in all industries, it makes sense to focus your initial business efforts on industries where you have experience and interests. Then you search for needs within that industry, independent of your own passions. You see this on Shark Tank all the time - these guys say "I have no knowledge of the X industry, so I'm out" or "I think you have a great business, but I have no passion for X, and I need to be passionate about what I'm doing. I'm out." Obviously passion for serving the need that others have identified is a contributing factor to success.

I think the point Get Right is making is that many people approach it from a slightly different but fatal perspective. They don't say "I want to serve an industry I'm already participating in - I don't care what needs are uncovered, I'm going to fill them"...they say "I want to do X because I'm passionate about X" without asking their preferred industry whether they want X. Instead of starting a recycling business based on his own ideas and passion, he should have let his passion for recycling fuel his search for real needs to be solved within that industry, as validated by those who are willing to pay for solutions.

Good points man. I agree with your analysis and what @Get Right is saying too. I tend to believe if you work hard and look hard enough you can find those opportunities in markets that really excite you and you have experience in, but I'm sure that isn't always the case.

Sometimes experience from one market can be shifted to another and although you may not be as excited that is where the opportunity could be. Everyone will have a different journey.

It also depends on your end goal as well. Do you want to grow and flip a company fast or do you want to be in that business for a while.

-Zac

 

[Zac Headrick]

ATTENTION EVERYONE

Seriously great thread and postings ! I started quoting some of you and quickly realized there were just too damn many to quote.
Heartfelt, insightful, experienced, knowledgeable, honest postings.

And @Zac Headrick ... you should be on the Inside brother.

Haha thanks. I will be soon enough. Still just getting used to this forum and trying to spend 99% of my time on my business. A lot of work to do.

Zac

 

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[throttleforward]

Do you want to grow and flip a company fast or do you want to be in that business for a while.

I think this is a key point. I think a lot of people look at the success of stuff like Angry Birds and go "wait a minute - all I hear on the forum is finding needs, solving pain points, etc...but here is something that people built and sold for crazy amounts of money, and I can
guarantee that no one did a survey on how many people need a game where you throw birds at pigs and blocks...they just built it out of their heads and people like it and they got rich! Therefore, people will love idea XYZ that I have too...screw finding needs! I'm following my passion and just building it, damn it!"

Obviously I think this is a bad way to go about things (the "spaghetti on the wall" approach) and it fails a lot more than it succeeds, but the ones that do succeed often have outlandish acquisition price tags, get a ton of media attention and seem so obtainable to many people ("all I have to do is make an app and I'll be rich like them!"). I think what's almost always missing in this, including in big, popular things like Twitter or Instagram, is an actual profitable business model.

edit: I should say a business model for the founders...obviously when Facebook, Google, etc. acquires these businesses they are acquiring customers to funnel into their existing profit streams. But until that happens, they are desparate for a neverending stream of investor money because they usually don't make their own profits.

 

[tafy]

Obviously I think this is a bad way to go about things (the "spaghetti on the wall" approach) and it fails a lot more than it succeeds

Your probably correct here, but most things will likely fail than succeed even entrapreneurs.

Steve Jobs didnt go asking anyone if they wanted a touch screen phone did he? They would have told him they didnt want it as its harder to text on, sometimes a revolutionary idea cant be validated and if you did they wouldnt want it.

https://www.helpscout.net/blog/why-steve-jobs-never-listened-to-his-customers/

 

[throttleforward]

Your probably correct here, but most things will likely fail than succeed even entrapreneurs.

Steve Jobs didnt go asking anyone if they wanted a touch screen phone did he? They would have told him they didnt want it as its harder to text on, sometimes a revolutionary idea cant be validated and if you did they wouldnt want it.

https://www.helpscout.net/blog/why-steve-jobs-never-listened-to-his-customers/

But Steve Jobs had a key difference that we don't have - he had a huge team of extremely talented people with piles of cash to apply toward his vision. He could drive engineers and designers to 90+ hour workweeks to make his vision a reality, under the specter of losing their high-paying jobs.

That's exactly what I mean by looking at the most popular version of entrepreneurship vs the reality. The reality is there are 1,000 boring entrepreneurs in industries no one cares about (or cares to read about on techcrunch) making millions because they found a need and serve it, for every one who is dreaming up the next big thing and going for it.

Don't get me wrong - we need people who are willing and able to dream big and ignore the customers. We wouldn't have cars if Henry Ford decided to give people faster horses, which is what people said they wanted. It's just that it's a lot easier to do that when you have millions/billions of dollars and a team of people. For most of us, we need to hit singles and doubles before we can do those things.

 

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[aBeats]

...we need to hit singles and doubles before we can do those things...

That little piece...right there...is what I'm trying to focus on as we speak