I failed my first business.
Failing was a good thing. I learned more about entrepreneurship in one year than any amount of reading, research, or watching YouTube tutorials could have taught me.
But the business model wasn't sustainable.
So I closed up shop.
That was two months ago.
That's given me a lot of time to reflect on my failure and what the next step might look like. What the next shot on goal could be.
The biggest realization I've had through all this reflection?
Business is dating.
I know. Sounds crazy.
But this analogy gave me more clarity on failing my first business than two months of reflection did.
My goal with this letter is to help you learn the same lessons—without needing to fail first.
Let's dive in.
You won't marry the first one (probably)
Remember those naive couples in high school?
They're young, starry-eyed, inexperienced—still trying to figure out how the world works and who they are as individuals.
Think they'll get married?
Probably not.
I use the word "probably" because it does happen. But for the vast majority of people, it's not the case.
If we define failure in relationships as "not resulting in marriage," that means most first relationships fail.
Business is the same way.
Your first business probably won't be "the one."
Of course, "the one" could mean many different things depending on your business goal:
- a non-profit that fills a gap you once needed yourself
- multi-million dollar exit so you can escape the rat race
- something that gives you a job for the rest of your life that you have 100% equity in
Regardless of your goal, none of these outcomes are easy to come by.
If we define business failure as "not achieving your goal," then most first businesses fail.
So if you want to start a business, you need to understand that failure is likely.
Not so you can manifest a bad outcome.
No, you should still believe in your ideas and ability to execute. You should still believe that you can win.
But you want to go in with a mindset that's something like:
"This business will probably fail. That's okay. Failure will help me learn."
Fortunately, I went into my first business with a pretty similar mindset.
Because if I hadn't—if I'd gone into it, thinking:
"This is definitely going to work! I'm going to win!"
I would have been mentally crippled when I closed up shop.
Instead, I'm able to face reality and jump into the next one without being slowed down by feelings of angst.
You have to fall in love with the work
They say that relationships don't work if you don't work.
Well, duh.
It's not like successful marriages are built on the fuel from that first spark—that rosy-eyed "we're falling in love, nothing else in the world matters" feeling.
They're built from decades of hard work. Toughing things out. Understanding each other. Making concessions.
The feedback loop for a relationship's success is fast.
If a couple doesn't put in the work, they get feedback very quickly. Fights. Arguments. Screaming matches. All the fun stuff.
But some people are blind to this.
They get caught by that rosy-eyed feeling of falling in love and think that's all they need for a long, meaningful relationship.
The same trap exists in business.
We fall in love with an idea, thinking things like:
"Wow, this is going to be the next Uber! There's no product like this yet!"
Only to create a business banking account with a $0 balance, spend three hours designing a logo that will never be used, and watch Alex Hormozi videos all day, wondering why we have no clients.
There is no faster feedback loop than entrepreneurship.
In relationships, you can avoid putting in work initially, and it will still work.
You can run on the early "falling in love" fuel. At least, temporarily.
That doesn't exist when you start a business.
If you don't work on your business, that balance stays at $0.
No matter how much you're in love with your business idea, that single, empty digit staring at you from your banking account app will be very real.
I learned this firsthand with my agency.
There were many reasons to love my business idea (ghostwriting):
- 100% digital
- 100% margin
- No cost to start
But regardless of those reasons, the fact remained:
I had to work to get results.
- If I didn't send DMs, I didn't get sales calls
- If I didn't get sales calls, I didn't close clients
- If I didn't close clients, I didn't get paid
If I didn't put in the work, the business did not work.
If you want your business to succeed, don't fall in love with your business idea.
Fall in love with the work.