Picking the wrong cofounder. It’s easy to jump into business with someone at the beginning before you really know them and their goals, but picking the wrong cofounder can cause major issues down the line.
matthewleehess_ on
Putting all eggs in one basket.
Ran an agency that had about a dozen $20-50k/yr clients at any given time.
Ended up sealing a deal for a $800k/yr client.
So we ended all other client relationships, to focus on this one big one.
Long story short, the big client ended up declaring bankruptcy (completely unrelated to our work) and never paid their final invoice of about $300k.
That debt completely wiped out entirety of business savings + liquid assets, to the point where I had to go into about $100k personal debt just to make payroll.
Their announce blindsided us, so we didn’t have time to build up a pipeline of new projects. Went completely under within a month, leaving me personally with a 6-figure debt.
Should’ve never taken that deal.
Terrible-Revenue8143 on
Didnt scale the f*cking shit out of something that worked. Its the only regret I have in business.
steve_mobileappdev on
It’ was me doing something just to simply make money but mostly to get away from something, as opposed to moving *to* something out of enjoyment and offering value.
In 2005, I bought a $150 ebook on affiliate marketing by a guy named James Martell. He had a podcast and talked about his extreme level of success in it.
So I launched a couple of sites, and applied to companies to try to advertise products on them.
Didn’t sell a thing, and it I’m not surprised I didn’t. I wasn’t into it. I just wanted to not have to do 9 to 5’s.
Zik_Allen on
Not starting earlier tbh.
kabekew on
My first business was a partnership in a bar & grill where only one of us had any experience in the industry. My mistake was believing him that it was “easy.”
jdlwright on
Not realizing other bigger companies would eventually eat my niche lunch. I was doing a niche really well and thought it was too small for the others to bother with. Eventually they had to do it to keep adding value for their subscription customers. At that point, their bundle value was too high to compete with. Still had a great run however.
Ok_Needleworker8470 on
Doubting myself too much. Sometimes you just have to take the leap and learn from it
serenitybydesign on
Not using profits and lines of credit to grow when I was younger in the beginning with much more fire in the belly. Mid 50’s now and thinking of that type of work schedule to grow makes me tired just thinking about it. Life is good plenty of business 2 employees. Great repeat clients mixed with new. Good profits. 25-40 hour week in avg for me as owner. I think I’ll ride it out but I know I could double my business with 2 more employees but in the end the HR part makes me want to vomit.
9 Comments
Picking the wrong cofounder. It’s easy to jump into business with someone at the beginning before you really know them and their goals, but picking the wrong cofounder can cause major issues down the line.
Putting all eggs in one basket.
Ran an agency that had about a dozen $20-50k/yr clients at any given time.
Ended up sealing a deal for a $800k/yr client.
So we ended all other client relationships, to focus on this one big one.
Long story short, the big client ended up declaring bankruptcy (completely unrelated to our work) and never paid their final invoice of about $300k.
That debt completely wiped out entirety of business savings + liquid assets, to the point where I had to go into about $100k personal debt just to make payroll.
Their announce blindsided us, so we didn’t have time to build up a pipeline of new projects. Went completely under within a month, leaving me personally with a 6-figure debt.
Should’ve never taken that deal.
Didnt scale the f*cking shit out of something that worked. Its the only regret I have in business.
It’ was me doing something just to simply make money but mostly to get away from something, as opposed to moving *to* something out of enjoyment and offering value.
In 2005, I bought a $150 ebook on affiliate marketing by a guy named James Martell. He had a podcast and talked about his extreme level of success in it.
So I launched a couple of sites, and applied to companies to try to advertise products on them.
Didn’t sell a thing, and it I’m not surprised I didn’t. I wasn’t into it. I just wanted to not have to do 9 to 5’s.
Not starting earlier tbh.
My first business was a partnership in a bar & grill where only one of us had any experience in the industry. My mistake was believing him that it was “easy.”
Not realizing other bigger companies would eventually eat my niche lunch. I was doing a niche really well and thought it was too small for the others to bother with. Eventually they had to do it to keep adding value for their subscription customers. At that point, their bundle value was too high to compete with. Still had a great run however.
Doubting myself too much. Sometimes you just have to take the leap and learn from it
Not using profits and lines of credit to grow when I was younger in the beginning with much more fire in the belly. Mid 50’s now and thinking of that type of work schedule to grow makes me tired just thinking about it. Life is good plenty of business 2 employees. Great repeat clients mixed with new. Good profits. 25-40 hour week in avg for me as owner. I think I’ll ride it out but I know I could double my business with 2 more employees but in the end the HR part makes me want to vomit.