According to common wisdom, startups face failure when they do not create a straightforward solution for a widespread problem-a fate that befell my entrepreneurial aspirations seven years ago. One bright morning in October 2016, I confronted the harsh truth that I was broke. It seemed implausible considering that just six months prior, a significant sum was credited into my bank account, a portion of my lifelong savings amassed over almost two decades in my career. At that time, I could proudly claim the status of a millionaire (in Kenyan shillings, of course!).
Throughout my career, I grappled with the entrepreneurial fervor that had seized me since my youth. Despite my extensive experience in the workforce, the allure of the comfort zone and a reluctance to take risks prevented me from taking any decisive action. My life became rather ordinary, akin to the life of any average person you might know. However, I found significant inspiration in two exceptional entrepreneurs whom I observed and held in high regard - my late maternal grandmother, Abisage NyaYona, and my mother, Ellena Nyogam. This influence manifested in my childhood roleplays, consistently featuring scenarios of selling something to my peers.
I initiated my first business venture at the age of 10 by selling mangoes every Saturday at the gate outside my father's compound. I would rise early, head to the nearby wholesale open-air market to procure mangoes, and by evening, the entire stock was sold out. I followed a simple business practice that I knew at the time, which was "No Credit, only Cash." I proudly displayed a large, shiny placard with those words written on it.
Several years later, when I secured employment, I initiated a series of side hustles to augment my income. These included supplying pest control products to households, operating a mini convenience shop for my neighbors, and establishing a photocopying/cybercafé for polytechnic students in the vicinity. However, even during this period, my approach to business leaned more towards being street-smart rather than book-smart.
When the entrepreneurial bug had bitten me enough, I began the new year of 2016 with a hard decision-I resigned from my job and stepped out of my comfort zone to explore the unknown. During that period, my belief in what I was doing remained unwavering, and nothing could shake my determination. Naturally, my amygdala, a part of my brain associated with emotions, constantly swung between the fight-or-flight response as soon as I submitted my resignation, leading me to question whether I had made the right decision. The reactions from my family and colleagues didn’t provide much reassurance. It's often said that while those close to you have good intentions, their concerns are not particularly helpful when you're striving to push your boundaries. Despite their well-meaning intentions, they often hold limiting perceptions of who you are and what you can achieve. Consequently, these individuals are most likely to reinforce-or even vehemently attempt to preserve-the old identity you are trying to discard.
Upon receiving the money, I was filled with frenzy and excitement to establish my “empire.” Over the next six months, I dedicated my energy, heart, and finances to running a business until the funds depleted, bringing everything to a halt. On that sunny morning in October 2016, much to my dismay, I realized that my understanding of running a business had been pedestrian. As the saying goes, failure is not a singular, cataclysmic event; it is the inevitable outcome of an accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it simply, failure is nothing more than a series of daily errors in judgment.
In retrospection, I failed because I approached and operated the business similarly to how I sold mangoes when I was in grade five. Nevertheless, if I could turn back time, I would still make the same decision to quit my job and start my own business. It remains one of the most pivotal decisions I've ever made in my entire life. Additionally, I find solace in the words of James Allen, who once said, "Let a person rejoice when he is confronted with obstacles, for it means that he has reached the end of some particular line of indifference or folly, and is now called upon to summon up all his energy and intelligence in order to extricate himself, and to find a better way; that the powers within him are crying out for greater freedom, for enlarged exercise and scope." I'm grateful that I had the opportunity, while time was still on my side, to undergo a process of character development.
After acknowledging that bad things didn't happen to me BUT because of me, recognizing my own incompetence, and accepting my failure, my developmental cycle finally caught up, albeit four years later. This has allowed me to perceive things differently and apply information in ways that others can’t. Emmet Fox suggests, "It is the Law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson."
In the upcoming weeks, I will share with you six reasons why my business failed within a record six months and the lessons I learned. Stay tuned!
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