I Attempted To Be An Entrepreneur And Failed. My Comeback Plan Will Be Epic
And how you can steal it for your own success
What is financial freedom for you?
I hope that’s clear to you because if it isn’t, you’ll find yourself in an endless jungle of thorns and thistles.
Hold that thought for a moment as we have a whole lifetime to talk about what it is for you.
Exciting times when I discovered entrepreneurship
Let me share with you what happened after I graduated from College as a Mechanical Engineer.
I pursued what most did — the top of the corporate ladder. That was the only way I was taught by my parents to become successful in life, specifically in finances.
Then one day I read the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and its sequel “Cash Flow Quadrant”, both written by Robert Kiyosaki.
Ok, I didn’t read them both in one day, but you get what I mean 🤣
My whole view of the world changed. I suddenly wanted to be an entrepreneur and release myself from the shackles of a job.
I learned about the word Financial Freedom for the first time. 💡
One of these days, I’ll share why gurus and influencers might have been farting to our faces the wrong impression of what this word means.
This started a quest. A quest with a lot of ogres and fire-breathing dragons.
It was probably the scariest yet most exciting time of my life.
Feeling so great about my chances, I filed my resignation and said “bye bye biatches see ya later if ya get there”.
No more boss. No more daily travel to the office. I’m now the captain of my destiny.
I had a couple of business pursuits already happening at that point — a business making and selling sweets and a small school started with my mom’s friend.
I was gonna be Bill Gates 2.0.
Or so I thought.
I fell flat on my face. I thought I was a genius but I was the dumbest dude on the entrepreneurial planet
I assumed a lot of things. I allowed myself to be misled by my own emotions as well as bad advice from a lot of sources.
I made a lot of bad decisions and alienated a lot of great people.
- I wasn’t at all prepared. The only fuel I had jumping on the entrepreneurship bandwagon was my libido for freedom and my savings.
- I never thought running a business took more time than a job but at least for a few months, you’d make 0.005% of what you could make from a salary.
- I invested money and time in some opportunities that were poorly researched.
- I trusted people who were either outright scamming me (and others in my network) or were well-meaning but just incompetent folks.
Pursuing this dream of financial freedom seemed endless. I had to stop or I’d burn the whole farm (and the chickens on it).
So after a few years. After a few liters of tears shed and a few thousand dollars burnt I called it quits.
I picked up a new skill — software engineering (tell you more about this in a later post) and applied for jobs.
You might think this is waving the white flag. Daddy Bossy called J-O-B has won.
Not exactly. I learned a lot from my failed first try (a first try that took a few years. That’s how stubborn I am when I start something).
I’m now coming back with a vengeance
The rules of the game today are much different than how they were during that unsuccessful stint of mine.
If you are starting today you have a much much higher chance of success than I had.
Technology has made huge strides already:
- Low or no-code tools can make you an instant software developer without having to spend months learning to code
- Myriad of tutorials on YouTube, Udemy, Teachable, and independent sites both free and paid (a lot of paid courses are really really affordable for all).
- Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc — if used properly, allow you to reach hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people to build loyal fans and avid customers
Those and a lot of other external factors make it really favorable for me to get back into the game.
But you know what?
My greatest asset coming into this is the experience (that brings with it wisdom) from my previous try. Provided I learned my lessons. I hope I did.
I’m giving you a preview of my game plan
Wiser, stronger. That is how I am approaching this. I’ll be more prepared. I have a clearer game plan.
I call this my “Two Comma” plan. It consists of three phases:
Phase 1: Affiliate Marketing
Phase 2: Digital Product Creation
Phase 3: Invest in other solopreneur businesses
You will learn the details of each in the next issues. But for now, I hope you enjoyed this one.
What is financial freedom for me?
To close this, let me answer the question I asked you at the start.
Financial freedom for me used to be living the lifestyle I desired without having to work or relying on anyone for money.
That’s a money-centric perspective. Life is more than money.
Financial freedom for me is having a choice to do the things I enjoy without anybody having to control my day, where I spend my day, and how long I do what I want to do.
Not a pretty definition but that’s what it is for me.
Alright, so that’s it for now. In the next few posts, I’ll share the rationale behind each of the phases.
