I have learned more in the last week reading this forum than the last few years alone. I thought I'd lay out a compilation of the failed ventures I've had over the last couple of years.
Independent insurance adjuster company - failed because I was not able to work with my partner to create a company, and not just two guys working a job. (funny story on this one, a family member said I should become an insurance adjuster, so I took the test as a dry run and somehow passed...and was suddenly a licensed multi-line insurance adjuster. I credit 7 years of employment in the Air Force giving me a keen eye on how to respond to bureaucratic prompts.)
Lawn care company - failed because I didn't even try, I sold a few jobs, but I hated everything about it. I failed because I didn't believe I could succeed, not to mention the market is saturated.
Ice dam removal company - this one actually went decent, made a few grand and got a quick and hard education on door-to-door marketing and who to contact to get to customers who pay. Lesson here, if you're charging $300 bucks an hour (b/c worker's comp insurance is $0.59 of every wage $1) you can't expect homeowner to pay. Call the insurance company and tell them a. you're insured, and b. you can get your guys out there now. Business ended when mother nature melted ice away.
HVAC company - another lesson learned on partnerships. I thought we were on the same page about benchmarks and hiring employees. Phone started ringing off the hook, RFP's rolling in, partner was scared to hire grunts to do work. Walked away as I partnered with him. Lesson learned.
Niche ecommerce company (dental products) - local manufacturer offered me 50% margins on a niche dental product. I f*cked up the execution of the project, sold a couple thousand $ over the course of a few month, but I was competing against distributors and other sales outlets selling the same thing to a tiny, tiny market. Many lessons learned here, but the biggest one was not to compete with myself.
The key component in each of these venture's failure was me. I failed to evaluate what value the business brought to the customer, I failed to map out a process that would prevent flip-flopping of strategy or business model. I dreamt of mountains of cash, without planning an effective process to build that mountain.
So take heed of my lessons, learn from my mistakes. Ask me any questions you want. I'm currently running a tiny internet company that grosses about $240k annual, so I can try to offer advice for those looking to move into that arena.
Independent insurance adjuster company - failed because I was not able to work with my partner to create a company, and not just two guys working a job. (funny story on this one, a family member said I should become an insurance adjuster, so I took the test as a dry run and somehow passed...and was suddenly a licensed multi-line insurance adjuster. I credit 7 years of employment in the Air Force giving me a keen eye on how to respond to bureaucratic prompts.)
Lawn care company - failed because I didn't even try, I sold a few jobs, but I hated everything about it. I failed because I didn't believe I could succeed, not to mention the market is saturated.
Ice dam removal company - this one actually went decent, made a few grand and got a quick and hard education on door-to-door marketing and who to contact to get to customers who pay. Lesson here, if you're charging $300 bucks an hour (b/c worker's comp insurance is $0.59 of every wage $1) you can't expect homeowner to pay. Call the insurance company and tell them a. you're insured, and b. you can get your guys out there now. Business ended when mother nature melted ice away.
HVAC company - another lesson learned on partnerships. I thought we were on the same page about benchmarks and hiring employees. Phone started ringing off the hook, RFP's rolling in, partner was scared to hire grunts to do work. Walked away as I partnered with him. Lesson learned.
Niche ecommerce company (dental products) - local manufacturer offered me 50% margins on a niche dental product. I f*cked up the execution of the project, sold a couple thousand $ over the course of a few month, but I was competing against distributors and other sales outlets selling the same thing to a tiny, tiny market. Many lessons learned here, but the biggest one was not to compete with myself.
The key component in each of these venture's failure was me. I failed to evaluate what value the business brought to the customer, I failed to map out a process that would prevent flip-flopping of strategy or business model. I dreamt of mountains of cash, without planning an effective process to build that mountain.
So take heed of my lessons, learn from my mistakes. Ask me any questions you want. I'm currently running a tiny internet company that grosses about $240k annual, so I can try to offer advice for those looking to move into that arena.
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