The Reality of Doing Our Own Thing: How I’d Avoid Repeating 2 of My Biggest Mistakes
Once bitten, twice shy.
I enjoy working on my hustles and business.
It turns my crank on. I can go on and on and on typing online articles, running my 1-Man consulting practice, and ventures I partake in for days without end. I enjoy what I do.
That does not mean it is a bed of roses.
I am my problem.
I have my soft spot. I want to get engaged with as many businesses as possible. I love touching all pieces of a business.
And take a small profit from it.
Satisfaction + Profit = Happiness
Of course, it is not always a slam dunk. I’ve lost money on multiple occasions. With time, I learned.
How Long Does It Take to Cook?
Some businesses need time.
I don’t mean a long sales cycle. I can live with that.
I mean that it requires a heavy time commitment on my part. Take, for instance, the following.
- 5 hours per day
- 7 days a week
- Be available 24/7
I used to be involved in a digital marketing agency with my chums. We found each other on LinkedIn and decided to strike it out on our own when the pandemic hit. You know, we had dreams.
We are a bunch of 5 guys based in the U.S., Romania, and Singapore.
Things went smoothly at the start. Then, we worked from home. It was easy to straddle between our day jobs and venture. We enjoyed every single moment of doing our own thing.
We put in at least 10 hours daily on top of our day jobs. We were intensely motivated.
That is, until, reality slapped us in the cheek.
- It took us 5 months to land the 1st deal.
- We net $4,000 for that engagement.
- Individually, we took home $1,000.
Not bad for a small venture, right? I thought so.
But as I said, the reality is harsh. Earning $1,000 after 5 months is pathetic. We gave up time and energy for a measly $200 per month.
Plus. That client literally nickel’d and dime’d us to death.
Too much work, too little money.
And the second client never came.
Slowly, we disintegrated from within.
The Romanian guy dropped out first. He found a high-paying job.
The Singaporean (not me) was next. He was a financial planner. He needed to sell more insurance policies to buy baby milk powder.
We disbanded the entire thing by the 8th month.
Though our venture never took off, I am glad I got involved. The entire experience was priceless. I learned that,
- Every business must be designed to capture clients fast
- If not, we lose momentum because no money is coming in
- And it is equally critical to avoid slaving in our business for peanuts
I bring these 3 questions along with me whenever I go.
I revisit these questions when someone asks me to partake in their business. They help me think.
Is it worth my while?
First, Trust Their Expertise. Next, Doubt Their Mindset.
I learned this the hard way.
How hard, you may ask.
I lost $20,000 in this business.
It was a café business. A friend of mine (technically speaking, my friend’s boyfriend) ran a coffee joint by the Busselton beachside. Let us call him Seth.
Seth is a coffee barista. Not only that. He is a coffee experimenter. Seth would stay in the kitchen for hours to figure out the golden proportion of milk, sugar, press, and weight for his perfect cup of black.
He makes brilliant, out-of-the-world coffee. And Seth never fails to explain what goes into our cup. His enthusiasm is infectious. We always had a good time in his café.
One day, while I was in his café, Seth came over and asked if I would invest in the coffee business. I stared at him, the cup of coffee I was holding, and back at his face.
Seth makes excellent coffee. He might pull this off.
I smiled and said yes.
And that was the start of a 12-month-long nightmare.
The reason? Seth is a barista, not a business owner. He does not think about profitability. He thinks about delighting the world with his coffee.
Even if it comes at a loss.
I screamed at him once.
“You don’t make sense, Seth! It takes $15 to make a cup of coffee, and you are selling it for $6. You are selling your way to more losses! You know that, right?”
This is his retort.
“That is not my concern. My goal is to delight all coffee drinkers! Why should we bother about losses?”
I could not understand Seth.
He did not understand me.
So we parted ways.
And then, it came to my realization that,
- Not everyone good at what they do will transition to an entrepreneur
- Building great products is not the same as building great businesses
- I must be careful with people who have a high disregard for money
I need financially prudent partners. My reason is simple.
I have worked with bad apples before.
The worst ones take my cash and light them on fire. What would I want to work beside them? If they cannot control costs, there will be zero profitability.
And that is the reality.
Parting Keynotes
It takes work to get involved in a business. Or, multiple businesses.
There are too many variables. Here are 2 of them.
- The path to the first dollar of revenue
- Our partner’s mindset toward entrepreneurship
I like to work with people who are revenue sensitive and have a growth mindset. I think like this. Therefore, I trust such profiles better.
And that is how I evaluate potential business opportunities and involvement.
I have been burned before.
I know what it means to make my time, energy, and money worthwhile.
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
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