Entrepreneurship
I Failed in Business Ten Years Ago And It’s Totally My Fault
Here’s how you can avoid the same mistakes.
2010 was a bad year to be in the job market, especially for new college graduates. And as luck would have it, I graduated from college in 2010.
Things were awful. After grinding for nearly four years to get my degree, my reward was working dead-end jobs. A short story I recently posted on Medium is based on one of those jobs.
I could go endlessly about my uninspiring resume after college, but that is not what this article is about.
I’m writing this so you can avoid what I did.
Where I Went Wrong
I began to look for alternatives after struggling to find work that paid a livable wage. It was at that time that I was exposed to the idea of making money online for the first time. I read, watched, and listened to many people as they described their dream-like lifestyles. They were traveling around the world, working a few hours a week, and living the best life they could.
One of those people was Tim Ferriss, who wrote The 4-Hour Workweek. It was through that book that I first learned the ins and outs of starting an internet business, and I devoured it like a rabid hound.
For the first few weeks after reading The 4-Hour Workweek, I was razor-focused. I spent night and day trying to decide what business to start.
And then things started to go downhill.
Days and weeks went by without me getting anywhere. The more I researched, the more distracted I got. Everyone on the internet was trying to sell me on their shiny new thing that was supposed to make me six or even seven figures a year.
At that point, any money was staggering to me. I had just quit my most recent job, which was being a file clerk at a law firm. I was living off my meager savings and was shacked up at my parents’ house.
My situation led me to a point of desperation. I began taking cheap writing jobs at a content mill. Content mills are websites that pay writers to produce articles for about a penny a word. It’s damn near impossible to make a humane living from these websites.
But when I started writing, I had this deluded sense that I had made it, since I was “making money online.” Before I knew it, I was getting addicted to whatever pennies were trickling down to my pocket. I wrote endlessly for almost nothing, and it had started to become my full-time gig.
Then one day, the novelty of content mill writing just started to wear off. I got burnt out. I didn’t feel like I was going anywhere with my online business, so I quit. Not only did I quit writing, but also the whole idea of trying to make money online.
Now, let’s back up a bit and do a little quiz.
Can you name at least one thing I did wrong?
You are right if you came up with any of the following:
- I quit my job prematurely.
- I did not use my time wisely to build my business.
- I did not have enough focus.
Here Are Three Tips on How You Can Avoid Repeating My Mistakes
- Start your business as a side hustle.
As a file clerk, I stuffed envelopes, organized binders alphabetically, and handled the law firm’s daily mail. It was an easy-peasy job, but I hated my life. I dreaded the drive to work, and I dreaded the boring things I had to do at work.
But guess what, being a file clerk gave me enough money to buy food, put gas in my car, and afford to see a movie on the weekends. I could have stuck around for another year or so while I built my thing after work. But I didn’t. I let my emotions get the best of me and inadvertently set myself up for failure.
If you want to avoid duplicating my failures, don’t leave your job. I don’t care what you do. Rather than quit, channel your negative energy into positivity by building your business off the clock. Let your job finance your secret business ventures by drawing paychecks from them every two weeks.
2. Don’t get addicted to the sight of quick cash.
Remember the content mill writing gig I took? Instead of focusing on that, I could have used the time to work on more profitable things. And to address my money problems, I could have just taken a part-time gig someplace that at least paid minimum wage.
But anyway, I can’t change my past. What I’m hoping for is to help change your future. If you are currently stuck in a time-sucking venture that has little promise for growth, stop.
Focus your energy instead on things that will make you money in the future. Instant gratification will kill your dreams before you even have the chance to pursue them.
3. Don’t be aimless. Make your focus so sharp you could cut brick with it.
It seems too obvious to say, but most of us omit the crucial step of staying focused when we’re trying to build something. What happens is we end up diving into a pool with no water and hit ourselves head first.
I get it. Staying focused is hard. Even today, I struggle with it. But there are things you can do to avoid going down the spiral of distraction and the failures it will surely cause.
Here are my methods for staying focused:
- I did an honest assessment of my current lifestyle and thought about how a side hustle could fit in.
- I listed the things I had to do for my business to help it grow (i.e. marketing, content production, accounting, etc.)
- I created a template of my schedule so my business activities become predictable, structured, and easy to follow every single week.
- I removed distractions from my work environment. My home office is free of bells and frills. And that’s just how I like it.
- Do these simple things and you will begin to see good results.
Final Word
I told you that my goal in writing this article is to prevent you from going through the same mistakes that I did. But what if you already screwed up? Is it too late? Of course not! I’m proof of that.
It’s been ten years since I had my first brush with entrepreneurship. If you are wondering why it took ten years, it’s because I eventually chose to go back to school to study for a new career. I became a nurse. And I still work as a nurse. Having a thriving business is still my end goal, but I am thankful for the life that nursing has given me. Not only have I been able to improve my financial situation, but I also get to help people in need.
If you are now in a position where you think you’ve dug yourself into a hole you can’t climb out of, think again. You are stronger than you think. You may fail at first, but just know that it is never, ever too late to turn your life around.
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