Jan 28, 2021
What I Have Learnt from Many Failed Business Ventures at Age 21.
In just a few years that I have been around on this planet, I have learned a thing or two from many failed businesses and business ideas that I have personally taken on. All the startups are super diverse.
These range from:
-Promotion company
-Marketing company
-Videography business
-Photography business
-Opening an actual functional market
-Affiliate marketing
-Digital marketing
-Content creation
-Video editing
-Reviewing business
-Writing
-Tutoring
-Coaching (sport and lifestyle)
Those are just a few avenues that I have had the pleasure of walking down. Not to mention the countless jobs I’ve had since I was 16. Not all of the above mentioned came crashing down in a ball of fire. Some made me decent money at the time. When I lost the passion and the motivation for these ventures, that’s when they came to an end. Some, however, did completely and spectacularly fail. They have all been steep learning curves as I didn’t exactly know what I was doing. All I knew was that I wanted to make money. Opening a business was the only way I knew how to do that. With that said, there are many unconventional things I have learnt from various business ventures.
No passion equals no success.
At least, in my experience. I had an insignificant interest in all varying business models. I was not super enthusiastic about them. I would put in the time to get them running as smoothly as possible. Nevertheless, I didn’t love what I was doing. It was just a means to an end. Someone figuring what they want to do in this world. And it shows, not by input but by output. You see, all the different ventures didn’t do anything for me. They didn’t fulfil me, no extreme satisfaction and no other gratifying feeling. When I solved a dilemma the business faced, it was just another hurdle that had been stepped over. I had no feeling of achievement. I knew that they would come with problems. But because I didn’t love what I was doing. It did not feel like a dream of mine was coming true. That is the key to running a successful venture. You have to love what you are doing. The money will follow the passion in whatever avenue you are in. Then passion meets desire and a bit of consistency are all thrown in the business pot it manifests. There is meticulous attention to detail that isn’t there before and it exposes. People pick up on them immediately, subconsciously. The same way your teacher knew you started the project given to you four weeks ago, yesterday. I’ve learnt now is that I have to find something I just completely adore and follow that. Someway and somehow it will make money.
Create a business plan and track everything in the business.
It goes without saying but it was over looked time and time again. A lot of the time I was just winging things and going with the flow. There wasn’t too much thought of the future going into the process. I had not planned out what I wanted from the outcome of different ventures. If there is no goal, then it is highly unlikely that you will follow through with what you expect from the business. Internally, when you do not track things like finance and hours and where everything is. They tend to get lost in the many things that are going on. It will become a problem. Who bought what, who did what when it comes to payment. At the end of everything, some people may feel like they got short-handed. Which is not ideal when you are trying to create a strong and connected workforce.
Allow others to do things that they are better at.
Often people are motivated by money. However, when you give tasks to people that they enjoy doing. They are ten times more likely to do that task well and do it to the best of their ability. It’s also tough to accept that other people are better at solving certain problems than you are. Allow them to do those things. Put your pride aside and let them do what they are good at. (It is completely different if you’re running a one-person show). It can also be overwhelming to be doing everything by yourself. Not asking for or taking any help from those that want to help you is a big mistake. Especially when you’re trying to get everything off the ground. It is increasingly difficult for things to be perfect when its just you against the world.
Do some things for free.
While this is controversial and as the saying goes, “If you know your worth, do not give it away for free.” Contrastingly, I’d like to argue the fact that doing things for free and doing them well will allow for more customers in the future and give customers an idea of what you’re offering. This gives you different advantages. First, you have a happy and great refrence for the next customer. Second, you’ve gained a customer that could potentially hire you in the future. Third, that customer is likely to tell other people about the service or product that you provided out of impulse as it is such a different thing to happen.
Get agreed upon payment upfront.
Contrast to the lesson above. When you have agreed on a price for a particular project. Acquire the payment upfront. Too often when you aren’t established yet, people will try and take advantage of you from the beginning. They will agree to something they know they aren’t going to pay in the future. Get your agreed-upon payment upfront. This only happened to me one time that the client promised they would pay for something after the service had been done and had no intention of paying for anything down the line. The unfortunate circumstance is that nothing was signed or written out and agreed on. There is nothing you can do to prove that they owe you money. A client like that is nothing but bad for business.
Without a doubt, the most important thing I have learnt from all these different ventures of mine is that you should never give up. Continue pursuing and proceed to give your very best at the business you love to do. Accept when situations are not working out and you have nothing more to give. But do not take failure as a bad thing. Failure creates many doors to open. It makes you a little wiser, a little bit tougher and a little bit more focused on what you want.
