What were your first business failures(or successes)?

[Wolfox]

I've decided I want to start a small screen printing business. Be my own boss. Starting off small tho... nothing that would make or break me but I hope to grow. Just a side thing for now.

Share you stories of failure and victory.

[visualizeperfection]

hopefully youre a better printer than poster


hth

[Fakechestguy]

needing getbig for advice??

[Wolfox]

hopefully youre a better printer than poster


hth

Both are better than your shoulder integrity.










Reality checked, bitch!

[visualizeperfection]

Both are better than your shoulder integrity.










Reality checked, bitch!

[TEMPER]

Paid my way through 3 years of under grad business school by starting a brand of "Herbal Incense" (Synthetic Marijuana). Research chemical JWH-015/018 to be specific.

Manufactured roughly 150lbs of the stuff in 3 years in my bathroom lol. Retail was $20 a gram at the time, I sold beautifully packaged quarter ounces of VERY potent custom blend for $100.

Then the ban came down in Michigan from governor Jennifer Granholm on most cannabinoid research chems in late 2010, I believe a list of 15 or so, rendering the "business" illegal.

I was doing well, and in the process of taking it mainstream with a business license etc., but then kids across the country started misusing the retail stuff from China (with who knows what doses in it) and having seizures and such. The bans came shortly thereafter.

I made about 200k total in 3 years, after school was paid I was left with roughly 125k... this was years ago and I'm still basically living off those earnings, working when I want to and being very frugal.

[Skorp1o]

I got into property/real estate in my mid 20's by late 20's I had 5 properties rented out and two more in the pipeline, was predicting a very prosperous 30's for myself and gearing up for a comfortable playboy lifestyle.

I bought 3 properties at their peak between early 2006 and late 2007....then the crisis hit and the city I was in got hit badly, within a short amount of time I went from having positive equity and surplus rent to negative equity and empty properties...had to keep them afloat from my own savings and earnings till sold and then pay off the short fall via agreements with the lenders. I looked at bankruptcy as an option at one point, but decided to give it my best and dig myself out one quid at a time.

Reason why I went to London in 2009 with a zero networth and just a job contract on me, started from scratch literally. I remember that day clearly, suited and booted coming out of Canary Wharf station on March 2nd 2009 starting a new chapter in my life, staying in a rented serviced apartment and brought down with me one suitcase, didn't sleep the night before as I had to come down on short notice and set off at mid-night to be in London at 3:30/4am

[HonestBob]

I got into property/real estate in my mid 20's by late 20's I had 5 properties rented out and two more in the pipeline, was predicting a very prosperous 30's for myself and gearing up for a comfortable playboy lifestyle.

I bought 3 properties at their peak between early 2006 and late 2007....then the crisis hit and the city I was in got hit badly, within a short amount of time I went from having positive equity and surplus rent to negative equity and empty properties...had to keep them afloat from my own savings and earnings till sold and then pay off the short fall via agreements with the lenders. I looked at bankruptcy as an option at one point, but decided to give it my best and dig myself out one quid at a time.

Reason why I went to London in 2009 with a zero networth and just a job contract on me, started from scratch literally. I remember that day clearly, suited and booted coming out of Canary Wharf station on March 2nd 2009 starting a new chapter in my life, staying in a rented serviced apartment and brought down with me one suitcase, didn't sleep the night before as I had to come down on short notice and set off at mid-night to be in London at 3:30/4am

Good for you.  Too many people take the easy way. 

[ESFitness]

first success?

I bought a pack of Bubbalicious watermelon bubble gum (5 pieces) for $.50 at the gas station on my way to school one morning, and sold the pieces for $.25 each, so I netted $.75

Next day I bought a pack of watermelon and a pack of strawberry and netted $1.50

and so on and so on...

after a couple months, my mom went through my dresser-drawer and found all my cash and my stockpile of bubblegum and accused me of shoplifting it.

... probably because that bitch barely made it through high school and had no concept of "entrepreneurial spirit". lol

[BigCyp]

I got into property/real estate in my mid 20's by late 20's I had 5 properties rented out and two more in the pipeline, was predicting a very prosperous 30's for myself and gearing up for a comfortable playboy lifestyle.

I bought 3 properties at their peak between early 2006 and late 2007....then the crisis hit and the city I was in got hit badly, within a short amount of time I went from having positive equity and surplus rent to negative equity and empty properties...had to keep them afloat from my own savings and earnings till sold and then pay off the short fall via agreements with the lenders. I looked at bankruptcy as an option at one point, but decided to give it my best and dig myself out one quid at a time.

Reason why I went to London in 2009 with a zero networth and just a job contract on me, started from scratch literally. I remember that day clearly, suited and booted coming out of Canary Wharf station on March 2nd 2009 starting a new chapter in my life, staying in a rented serviced apartment and brought down with me one suitcase, didn't sleep the night before as I had to come down on short notice and set off at mid-night to be in London at 3:30/4am

Top man.

[BigCyp]

When I was 10, I started a 'bicycle repair shop' in my grandad's garage and advertised bike services to my friends/family. The first customer I got was a kid called Andre from round the corner, who I really hated. We agreed a fee of £3 up front to do a full service and clean, and when he left I covered his whole bike in brown parcel tape. He came back and cried and then his parents came over and my grandad kicked my ass lol.

[honest]

Financial services lol is a description I like to use, others can be less kind.

[Fakechestguy]

Welcome to my life getbiggers.

[ESFitness]

first 'failure'?

when my pharmacy in Tijuana was "raided by police" in Oct '04 and my biz partner, 2 employees, and employee's 12yr old niece were cuffed and hooded and taken away on a Saturday morning... same morning I was supposed to be there but for whatever reason I didn't go (I'd probably drank too much already and was too lazy to go drop off orders).

I showed up next day (sunday) to find my door's closed and locked (with a different padlock) at 10am (we should've been open at 9am).. where I waited for over an hour 'till the old man from the pharm next door came out and asked what I was doing there and told me what happened.

never heard from my biz partner or anybody else after that... I doubt they were arrested, and probably ended up in a 55gal drum in the desert.  

*poof* and my 33% stake in the biz was gone. lol

went down a few weeks or so later and saw that somebody else was operating it, and obviously didn't know who I was. I bought a bottle/pack of valium and used the back room to stash the pills in the seams of my pants and overheard a lady in what used to be my office mentioning the name "paul" over and over... long story short, it was the ex-wife of Paul Borrenson. lol... I didn't bother asking what the fuck was she doing in my office, or doing in Tijuana, or that Paul is a piece of shit that stole an article on insulin use that I'd written and emailed to him when I was 17yrs old. lol.

... never returned to Mexico after that.

[Frank Clairmonte]

pretty cool stories.