Why Am I Getting a Job, After Doing Startup for 9 Years
I have been looking for a job in the last couple of months, and got really active in the last week.
The reason?
Well.. my companies are running out of cash, and my personal cash flow has been negative since the beginning of this year. After reading the book “The Millionaire Master Plan”, I came to realize that I’m now in the “ultra-red” zone, the lowest of all wealth levels.
Unless I’m doing something specifically and quickly about it, things will become much worse before I realize.
How I got to be at this stage? At the surface level it’s careless, unchecked spending in the last month, which dropped our cash reserve. But at a deeper level, it’s simply that none of my companies have been able to attract or retain paying customers.
It could a product-market-fit problem, it could be a “marketing problem”, but most essentially and likely the main and root cause has been myself.
I might have lost focus, lost momentum, and lost the purpose and vision when I originally had, when I started the companies.
It’s not that I want to be like this, nor is it because I hadn’t worked hard at the current companies. But more likely because of some key ingredients about running businesses that I still hadn’t “got it”.
In fact, after realizing that “online marketing” is something I lack and critically am in need, I founded my 3rd “marketing company” Idea9 in order to force myself to learn how marketing and sales really work.
The tasks of running three companies at once is probably a crazy idea, even to myself just a year ago. But after getting into the online course Accelerated Momentum Program (AMP), I’ve improved my habits and mindset, and specifically my views about my potential growth.
As a “forcing function” to force myself to learn marketing well, I started my 3rd company in the beginning of 2019. However, my work and personal life also had taken an extreme turn afterwards.
I’ve learned a great deal in a short amount of time, have started to do things I never did (such as writing daily blogs and doing videos). But I also started to feel and experience many setbacks and negative feedback from around.
The end result has been my companies are running low in cash, my wife had lost confidence and support to my entrepreneurial efforts, and many close contacts (especially family members) all suggest me to shutdown the companies and “get a real job” that pays the bills.
Are these experiences traumatic? You bet! But do I regret in having done it? Not at all!
Why? Because I’ve become a different, and somehow more resilient, and “fault-tolerant” person in this process.
I cried a few times after learning my companies are low in cash and may bankrupt soon, especially during the immediate weekend that followed. However, I also recovered very quickly, pretty much was back in action and hopeful for the future the next Monday!
I’ve also gotten quite “realistic” and willing to do whatever is necessary to move the needle or things forward, even if that means dropping my pride and start looking for a job.
I won’t be shutting down the companies as they can still operate and work in “low maintenance” mode, but I will definitely try to find ways out from the current chaos and mass.
The interesting thing is, somehow I’ve got the feeling that after all this, a “new me” will emerge, and likely will be even more confident, more tolerant, more kind, more emphatic, and more capable, than the previous Shun-Yun.
If that’s what you’re looking for too, please go check out my companies, and I’d appreciate for any suggestion/feedback you might be able to provide!
