Wanting to quit the business

[Chadders]

It’s fucking hard starting a business. It’s been the biggest commitment of my life. I have sunk so much effort and money into it at the detriment of other aspects of my life for the last 6 years. The burden feels greater now 

We’ve just launched though and I know I gotta plough through. I am envious of people who can start a business and not have to hold down a job at the same fucking time! If only Bezos didn’t have that half a million from his parents in the 90s. Probs worth nearly 1mn bucks in today’s money 

We are in the process of getting investment into the company which will allow me to take a wage and properly hit the business development full time. This will be huge for me. The wage will keep me going for a year and with revenue into the company we can gain traction

But honestly I’m jaded by it all. Sometimes I feel that if I could just click my fingers and it would all just disappear I’d fucking do it. I’m not the same man I was 6 years ago. Priorities have changed with my own personal and spiritual development 

Not the biggest fan of musk but I always recall him saying starting a business is like eating glass. Don’t do it. A bit extreme but people don’t consider how hard it actually is. The life commitment involved  

It’s a lonely journey. The buck stops with me as MD and CEO. My partners are very hands off 

If anyone’s got any pep talk or their own experience over coming start up business challenges I could do with it 🙏

[FourCrossedWands]

Don't forget to mention how other people (family and friends) will make it even harder for you by trying to convince you that you simply cannot succeed.

That working 12-16 hours a day is a silly idea and that you should find a regular 9-5 job instead, where you can "have fun" and "socialize".

They are all just jealous and listening to them is a trap.

[Yimpa]

16 minutes ago, Chadders said:

If only Bezos didn’t have that half a million from his parents in the 90s.

If you think that bozo is living the good life, think again. 

But don’t think differently. That slogan’s already taken. 

[Yimpa]

17 minutes ago, Chadders said:

My partners are very hands off 

Partners that are more hands on is advisable. 

[Chadders]

22 minutes ago, FourCrossedWands said:

Don't forget to mention how other people (family and friends) will make it even harder for you by trying to convince you that you simply cannot succeed.

That working 12-16 hours a day is a silly idea and that you should find a regular 9-5 job instead, where you can "have fun" and "socialize".

They are all just jealous and listening to them is a trap.

I have an auntie who is very negative. It’s almost like she wants it to fail. Completely different mindset. She’s achieved diddly squat in her life and is in no position to cast judgment on someone taking a punt at their ambitions. I just don’t speak to her lol

aside from her the rest of my family are pretty supportive and understand the toll it takes  

Edited July 23 by Chadders

[Heaven]

It’s super hard but it sounds like you’re determined and dedicated. Give this business another 2 years and if it doesn’t work move on.

Personally It sounds like a long time. If a business doesn’t produce me an income after 6-12 months I’ll probably be out.

[Chadders]

@Heaven I’ll give it another year once we have the investment. I need to stick to that and not move the goal posts

Yes has taken a hell of a long time. The last 5 years of the journey has been the pre start up so this actual start up stage has only been going for a very short period relatively. It requires a lot of development and brand building. I also have a developer who completely fucked it up so I had to start again. that was painful

That moment was actually the last time I felt like walking away. It’s like I’ll find an investment or that’s it. I feel like I’m here again though for different reasons 

[Butters]

12 hours ago, Chadders said:

Bezos didn’t have that half a million from his parents in the 90s. Probs worth nearly 1mn bucks in today’s money 

That's a terrible attitude to have. You will never have success without changing the whole thing and see yourself as the main character in your story who writes his own destiny. You should be at the cause of your life not the effect. If you can't get to that place mentally rn then fail, be homeless, have a revelation and start again. You'll not make it with this half-assing playing it safe employee mindset. 

(not hating just speaking from experience) 

Edited July 24 by Butters

[Chadders]

@Butters Yoof if you had any idea how hard I’ve worked you wouldn’t be saying that

Anyway case in point is that having half a million from your parents does actually massively help. The majority of start ups fail because they run out of cash. This is how it is

You have to get real sometimes. It is easier for some and not others. Does this stop me from doing shit? No else I wouldn’t be here. I am pretty senior at my place of work and have no problem with my financial position. I am also the director of my own company. Damn that’s a lot more than most people can say

One thing I will say though is that working your ass off is not always worth it. When you get older priorities change and I am not as career orientated as I was. The corporate world is quite shallow actually and money does not fill the void. I’m not sure how old you are but as you get older you will realise this more 

Sure you need money but how much do you actually need to be happy? I can tell you not much actually. I’m just stuck with a commitment I made contrasted with the person I am today. My priorities have changed and they surely will for you too

In rgds to whether you are in control over your own destiny. Yes and no. Mostly no. You are absolutely not in control of most of your life

[Butters]

Yes my point is also mainly that if you don't enjoy and love what youre doing then you should do something different. 

11 minutes ago, Chadders said:

@Butters 

You are absolutely not in control of most of your life

This is purely your subjective experience or limiting belief and not statement of fact. On some level you are choosing to look at it this way, you're just not aware how it's a belief. And having this belief it will unfold as such; a self fulfilling prophecy. 

But I cannot change your karma or think I am here to convince you. If youre choosing to be at the receiving end of life then that's totally fine, but not very helpful in creating an extraordinary life or business. 

[Chadders]

3 hours ago, Butters said:

This is purely your subjective experience or limiting belief and not statement of fact. On some level you are choosing to look at it this way, you're just not aware how it's a belief. And having this belief it will unfold as such; a self fulfilling prophecy. 

But I cannot change your karma or think I am here to convince you. If youre choosing to be at the receiving end of life then that's totally fine, but not very helpful in creating an extraordinary life or business. 

I have had a conscious insight that this is actually how reality works. Sure, go through life taking action as if it was in your control, but ultimately it isn’t 

You can’t connect the dots moving forward only by looking back. For me this is not a belief, it was a conscious shift in understanding about the universe. If you contemplate deeply all the things in your life that were not in control they are the most fundamental aspects that have shaped you

This is where the premise of letting go comes from and just doing what is in accordance with your heart. As for anything else, it’s up to the universe. Suffering and karma that is also up to the universe pushing you to awaken 

Edited July 24 by Chadders

[Butters]

@Chadders i think we're somehow both pointing at the same thing here. 

[Evelyna]

@Chadders When I started my business 18 years ago I've put everything in to it, every penny, every bit of my time , I did not come from wealth, ive left my country of birth and moved to UK where I had to learn the language while starting up a business. It  wasnt always easy but it worked out for me and I am still running that same business. Do what you need to do when you need to do it was and is my motto, my attitude was and still is to not worry about so called failures, when something didn't work I tried another method , and another until I found one that works. Running a business can be  hard when you create that experience for yourself. I also dont put resistance in to the flow of things, and stay in the present. There's always something that can be done about something, sometimes it might be hard decision but decisions have to be made and action must be taken. In short you have to do something about it, try different things, not neccesary conventional. I do wish you all the best and I hope you will get your investment , and if you dont,  try another way. There's no failure there's just what works and what doesn't.    

[Chadders]

@Evelyna I admire your tenacity and persistence to keep on plugging away at it. Must have been hard moving to the Uk from another country to get set up here

Yeh thanks for that it’s appreciated. It’s putting one foot in front of the other. I’m just jaded by it now so I need to rekindle the spark. This is what I hope this investment will do for me as to be able to focus on it full time without having to hold down a job as well will be huge. To have 100% dedication into it

Then if it doesn’t work out after a year of that then it’ll be time to move on. Chatted with my neighbour the other day and she said just don’t move those goal posts after you make a decision

[pablo_aka_god]

I feel really identified with your post!

I am one of the first engineers of a Silicon Valley AI startup.I started working on it 3.5 years ago.

I have been hearing about getting series A for the last 3 years and still hasn't happened.

I have been working with a small reduction on my salary for the last 10 months.

Just 2 months ago we completely ran out of money and I am working for free and living off my savings.

We have been waiting to get acquired for the last 6 months and still hasn't happened but keep hearing we have to keep the lights on for a few more months to get acquired and make it big!

If I leave I lose the chance of making it big but if I continue and it doesn't happen I'm also screwed since I lost all my investment in the company.

It's one of those situations were you are damned if you do it and damned if you don't!

I think the best thing to do is to keep going but figure out ways to make it sustainable. I'll go to Brazil for 1 month and want to go to Colombia after. We have to enjoy life while eating the glass.

Maybe you need a vacation and have some fun so you can clear your mind!

 

 

[pablo_aka_god]

forgot to add that I'm also starting my own company as a side project.

So I hate my life right now, lots of work, feel very lonely and eating my savings.

But I think I'm fighting the right battle so I have no choice but to continue and try to have more fun.

Are you fighting the right battle?

Edited July 27 by pablo_aka_god

[puporing]

6 Years is pretty long run at something and if it's not working out that's just what it is. I burnt out of my first business too though I don't regret the times because it was more or less a "passion project", did take a toll on my body though so I had to leave it.

[Ishanga]

On 7/24/2024 at 4:24 PM, Chadders said:

I have had a conscious insight that this is actually how reality works. Sure, go through life taking action as if it was in your control, but ultimately it isn’t 

You can’t connect the dots moving forward only by looking back. For me this is not a belief, it was a conscious shift in understanding about the universe. If you contemplate deeply all the things in your life that were not in control they are the most fundamental aspects that have shaped you

This is where the premise of letting go comes from and just doing what is in accordance with your heart. As for anything else, it’s up to the universe. Suffering and karma that is also up to the universe pushing you to awaken 

The Only thing we have Control over is How we want to BE within OURSELVES, this comes from being Conscious/Aware of what the Reality is, via that we gain Free Will, or the Ability to Respond vs. Compulsivity or Reactivity, so in reality we can only control what is going on within ourselves, everything else that is outside of Us we cannot control completely, if You have 50% control then Your on a good path lol, but otherwise outside situations are random and very influx... But How Your respond to it all is totally under Your control if You want it too be..

But I understand Your situation, have dabbled in having my own business and doing things on my own in this nature, it can be very frustrating and exhausting, the thing we have to ask ourselves is is it worth it, is it giving me Joy and am I doing what I luv to do, if not then for sure suffering will come of it... 

[LordFall]

I'm having a similar experience with the media/marketing business I've been doing for the past few years. Been mostly doing it as a freelance photographer then got a contract doing social media marketing and was thinking about turning into a media company. The amount of work is nightmarish indeed and my motivation has took a massive hit. I don't have advice just reliability. For me it's really purifying my intentions and goals because there was a part of me that was doing it not out of purpose but out of wanting the fame/power/money and it's just not worth it for such shallow ends. 

I'm having to really sit down and figure out who I am and what do I want out of the next 10 years of my life. I think it is indeed possible to build something enormous and civilization-changing like Musk and Bezos have done but you really have to put 150% in it and believe in it otherwise it's a fools errand. Big props to these guys because you cannot do it out of greed as the people who have never tried to build a business are accusing them of. 

On 23/07/2024 at 4:28 PM, Chadders said:

Not the biggest fan of musk but I always recall him saying starting a business is like eating glass. Don’t do it. A bit extreme but people don’t consider how hard it actually is. The life commitment involved  

It’s a lonely journey. The buck stops with me as MD and CEO. My partners are very hands off 

I'll say good luck brother and if your partners are leeching your value while not providing much I would find a way to kick them out if at all possible. Going down this journey with bad partners turns a nightmare into pure hell. 

[Chadders]

@LordFall Yes I have found there has been a kind of purifying process so I don’t regret the journey. It has changed me by helping me realise what matters. I’m not in it for the materialism. Money is only as good in terms of how you use it and the freedom it gives you if you have enough to be completely free of working a regular job

It’s tricky with my partners. They do provide commercial input but importantly they have provided the technological infrastructure through their company. They have their own successful business so they’re just used to delegating and not getting their hands dirty with the grunt work that has to be done. I am director and CEO and they are just directors 

I will continue but the universe is telling me that I have to be firmer with what I want out of the business now rather than being positive all the time. There’s a pressure to be positive. They need to know that there are limits and lines I won’t cross. I am not going to keep chucking money at it and time. We need investment to free my hand or we need a serious discussion about future of the company. We do have one potential investor but the market is very dry atm. Bit of pessimism in the market