I failed as an entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is really not as easy as people think it to be, but the journey is nourishing and worth it.
In 2022, I decided to launch a happiness company. I kept hearing from friends and family about their degrading mental health and I thought to myself, how can we collectively live a joyful, well lived life? How can we navigate from the plague of COVID, the distress from the political upheavel, the rise of unrealistic norms to a more centered, realistic and fruitful life?
What seeds do we need to plant to nourish our mind, body and soul?
And I thought about it and decided to read about the neuroscience of wellbeing, cognitive science books and positive psychology books to fully understand how our mind and our brain work. And from my research, I thought- well why don’t I create a one-size happiness solution. Why don’t I give people the tools they need to live that joyful, well-lived life that we all deserve.
My heart was in the right place. I wanted to leave the world in a much better place than when we got here. And I thought I was ready. So, I shot for the stars.
I did everything business school taught me to do:
1. I created a competitive analysis
2. I created my company’s vision and mission
3. I created a high level MVP model & it’s business plan
4. I brought in two people to help me clarify my strategy and goals
I did it and I was ready. I was going to build a social media platform that educated people on the science of wellbeing. And so, on a sunny day in March of 2022, I launched my first posts on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
And I did that for a couple of months and it was exhilarating and fulfilling, but slowly my light started to dim.
It was difficult navigating the complexities of marketing strategies on the different platforms. What worked for X (previously Twitter), did not carry forward with the others. The internet is so abundant in knowledge, but to the point where I found it extremely overwhelming.
It was overwhelming to post on four different platforms. It was overwhelming to understand how to grow each platform.
I followed individuals who were sharing insights on how to grow a following, and I tried it for a few months.
It wasn’t working.
My accounts were growing at a slow and steady rate. But I just felt that the growth wasn’t fast enough. And sometimes I felt that my content wasn’t being received well by individuals.
And at the end of the day, the problem was me and the way I communicated my knowledge.
I think understanding the science behind why things work and why things that don’t work is extremely fascinating. I thought the people I was marketing to would also appreciate the complexities and nuances.
And I’m sure there are, but the people that were following me, I just don’t think resonated with it.
And I realized I don’t know who my customer segment is? I also don’t know what kinds of information they want to consume? Do they enjoy the instructional information I produce? I didn’t really think so.
If I was building an internet brand- I had to speak the language of those reading my articles, not my language. And that was a difficult pill to swallow.
I knew how to talk like me, but I didn’t know how to talk like a normal consumer. I was not captivating. I was not cool. I do not know how to talk the talk.
Another pitfall I faced was, I am not made for putting my face on social media. I thought being an extrovert, I’d love filming myself, but that was far from the truth. Being the face of a brand, takes a strength and courage for people like me and every day, I’d have to give myself a pep talk into performing in these educational videos.
And I hated it.
I felt like a fraud. I felt weird. I felt bleh.
And after months of trying, I decided to pause and focus.
Building this happiness company is still my dream, but I need to figure out:
- Who my customer segment is?
- How to market my value proposition to my customer?
- How to develop a physical product- at least a minimum viable product?
I have a lot to figure out and one day I will. This is my dream passion project and I took away so many lessons. And the most important thing was that this opportunity gave me my day job. It gave me the experience to apply to a career that I didn’t know I could do. And slowly but surely, I am rebuilding my confidence.
What’s next?
Right now, my focus is on my day job, my writing career, cooking and dancing! But I do know, that this passion project of mine, is my dream and one day, I know I’ll be better able to serve my audience with the skills they need to live a well lived, joyful life.
I off an on work on it and it makes me so excited. I have a few ideas and a couple of new strategies that I want to try out, but I get nervous. And often times, I live in my head daydreaming about this. One day, when I am ready, I will share to a small group the ideas I have and I’d love your feedback.
Keep dreaming,
Damini
