Came across this guy accidentally at Quora.
He happens to have a blog that I think is very good for you to follow if you are into entrepreneurship.
http://www.evanasano.com/
I make mistake often. and repeatedly.
It has to do with the fact that I happen to be a risk taker even though I never intend to be one.
I think one of my biggest flaws is that I do not learn enough from mistakes.
or not fast enough it seems.
That.. partly is because I did not really write it down even if I would ponder on it again and again.
And partly it is down to my stubborn nature. It's a Taurean thing.
Looking back, I have tried or got myself involved in various 'business venture'
1) Cleaning service company.
Everything looked sound to me. The client and revenue record. The demand.
The business owner who asked me to join this company was my own landlord.
A Christian too. His name? David.
So I thought.. surely he won't run away right?
Well.. he #$#@$% run away with my money.
To be fair to him, he said he would pay me back.. That was 9 years ago.
2) daily room rental portal (think airbnb)
We existed before there was airbnb. I am not sure if we had to be proud of that or not.
We had decent start. On paper, it was a sound business idea. I mean.. just look at airbnb.
But Singapore govt made daily rent an illegal thing.
So we had to close down.
Was it bad timing, wrong starting place (e.g. could have been different if we started in New York) or poor strategy?
3) overseas education agency
this has not completely shut down yet. hibernation mode if you will.
mistakes made:
- we chose Serpong because we thought it was a growing area and the rent was cheaper. wrong move.
turned out that families living in that area are still very local minded. majority of the parents there are looking to send their kids to Untar, UPH etc.
cheaper rent and lack of competitors don't always mean a good thing.
- we hired a super experienced manager who used to be top producer in her past agencies. my partner considered this manager a great mentor of his. someone who can start and succeed on her own.
but she used to be a single young girl back then.
when we hired her, she had a non-working husband and a daughter to take care of.
her focus was totally not there and neither was her drive.
if you are a new startup and needs a hungry and driven manager, get a young and single one.
- i was not in Jakarta most of the time. basically I was a passive shareholder. that was the biggest mistake as I could not see what went wrong fast enough. we could have moved to different location or hire different manager.
since then I made a golden rule. I will never be a major shareholder of any business that I would not be actively involved in.
I currently still have two business ventures that are ongoing as well as another two or three that are still in talking phase.
In financial terms, the loss I made throughout the years could have been enough to fund my proposal ring, wedding ring and banquet.
This year is the season in which I need to truly learn from ALL my past mistakes (and STOP making the same mistake) so that they become valuable assets.
Pray for me! :)
He happens to have a blog that I think is very good for you to follow if you are into entrepreneurship.
http://www.evanasano.com/
I make mistake often. and repeatedly.
It has to do with the fact that I happen to be a risk taker even though I never intend to be one.
I think one of my biggest flaws is that I do not learn enough from mistakes.
or not fast enough it seems.
That.. partly is because I did not really write it down even if I would ponder on it again and again.
And partly it is down to my stubborn nature. It's a Taurean thing.
Looking back, I have tried or got myself involved in various 'business venture'
1) Cleaning service company.
Everything looked sound to me. The client and revenue record. The demand.
The business owner who asked me to join this company was my own landlord.
A Christian too. His name? David.
So I thought.. surely he won't run away right?
Well.. he #$#@$% run away with my money.
To be fair to him, he said he would pay me back.. That was 9 years ago.
2) daily room rental portal (think airbnb)
We existed before there was airbnb. I am not sure if we had to be proud of that or not.
We had decent start. On paper, it was a sound business idea. I mean.. just look at airbnb.
But Singapore govt made daily rent an illegal thing.
So we had to close down.
Was it bad timing, wrong starting place (e.g. could have been different if we started in New York) or poor strategy?
3) overseas education agency
this has not completely shut down yet. hibernation mode if you will.
mistakes made:
- we chose Serpong because we thought it was a growing area and the rent was cheaper. wrong move.
turned out that families living in that area are still very local minded. majority of the parents there are looking to send their kids to Untar, UPH etc.
cheaper rent and lack of competitors don't always mean a good thing.
- we hired a super experienced manager who used to be top producer in her past agencies. my partner considered this manager a great mentor of his. someone who can start and succeed on her own.
but she used to be a single young girl back then.
when we hired her, she had a non-working husband and a daughter to take care of.
her focus was totally not there and neither was her drive.
if you are a new startup and needs a hungry and driven manager, get a young and single one.
- i was not in Jakarta most of the time. basically I was a passive shareholder. that was the biggest mistake as I could not see what went wrong fast enough. we could have moved to different location or hire different manager.
since then I made a golden rule. I will never be a major shareholder of any business that I would not be actively involved in.
I currently still have two business ventures that are ongoing as well as another two or three that are still in talking phase.
In financial terms, the loss I made throughout the years could have been enough to fund my proposal ring, wedding ring and banquet.
This year is the season in which I need to truly learn from ALL my past mistakes (and STOP making the same mistake) so that they become valuable assets.
Pray for me! :)
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