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What are the WORST decisions you've made in your entrepreneurial journey?

DonJuan

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Could you expand on that?

Well, some of the worst decisions I've made involve launching a business or product based on adrenaline, hype & past success. Then getting emotionally invested, and not getting out soon enough.

Imagine a guy called Rob.
He launched his business 3 years ago, and went from zero to 7 figures.
Thanks to this success, he's convinced he was born a "business man".
Business is his thing, and nothing can stop him.

One day, he sees his high school buddy Kevin making bigger bucks in a slightly different niche.

Since Rob thinks he's cracked the business code, he creates a business similar to Kevin's, and shifts most of his resources to this new business. I mean, why not, right? His buddy Kevin is living proof there's bigger money to be made.

6 Months later, Rob is practically out of cash.

Why?

Two reasons:
1. He got emotionally invested & let his emotions take strategic decisions
2. He took his past success as a sign of future success, and pushed ahead when he should have stopped pushing

The things Rob didn't take into account are:
- Kevin's strengths are not necessarily Rob's strengths.
- An industry, niche, or marketing channel can change drastically in just a few months, especially in our fast evolving society.

So what worked for someone yesterday, won't necessarily work for you today.

Being able to:
- quickly recognize key signs of potential failure,
- and quickly kill a business/product/offer that shows too many weak spots,
- has been essential for me in succeeding in the long run.
 
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D

Deleted78083

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So what worked for someone yesterday, won't necessarily work for you today.

Being able to:
- quickly recognize key signs of potential failure,
- and quickly kill a business/product/offer that shows too many weak spots,
- has been essential for me in succeeding in the long run.


That's gold, thanks for specifying!!
 

Process

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The biggest money mistake was not doing one particular type of insurance sales that is really easy and high commission.

However I’m much sharper from learning sales and marketing the hard way. I would have been spoiled in the long run.
 

valuecreator

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In my early twenties I went $200K into debt to "go in business", a code word for "testing an idea while I'm having no clue what I'm doing and going broke in the process".

Nowadays I spend about $200 and 10 days to test an idea and know if I should invest another minute of my precious time.

You live, you learn.
 
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MHP368

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instead of market research, gut feeling and a single number from a survey.

then found and run the entire company on a high interest credit card.
 

GravyBoat

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I agree with @Kak . I don't necessarily regret many decisions.

Serious debt, many many failures, partnership failures, bad hires, etc are all part of the process and you can't fault yourself for not knowing what you didn't know at the time. Hindsight is 20/20.

I've f*cked up ROYALLY many times. But at the time, I thought it was the best thing to do. So all you can do is learn from your mistakes.

There really are no failures unless you quit.

That being said, I'd say the WORST DECISION I've made is inaction. From 18-22 I took little action compared to now. I was not in grind mode. I wish I would have taken far more action during that time. I'd be much further ahead now.

Otherwise, bad business partners, if any. My goal in 2019 was to create at least ONE business where it was JUST ME. Hire all employees, no partners. I haven't had a great success with a partner yet.
 

Kepler

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Spending years getting baked as a cake and turnt as a knob, meandering through my goals at a snails pace and thinking everything was cool because I was making progress.

Through it all I was:

-Neglecting my health (physically and mentally)

-Being complacent with the snails pace I was crawling at

-Ignoring my personal problems

-Damaging my personal relationships

-Pissing away money on stuff that didn’t advance my goals.

Sometimes to get ahead you need to pause and look inward, fix your personal issues and learn to handle yourself before continuing forward.
 

TreyAllDay

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Told family/friends I have a business. Now they won't stop leaving me alone to the point I ignore phone calls and texts. Been asked for money a lot as well.

Yea I would agree - my family/friends caught on to how much I made last year and I think between my family and friends I've loaned out maybe $11,000 I won't get back. People think you pocket everything you make as if you're not paying 50% to taxes.
 
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