No, business failure isn't final

No-one starts a business with a plan to fail.

And, yes, my raw and honest story might be a little confronting.

But I’ll tell some of it here – at least, very briefly.

In September of last year (that’s 2024 – just in case you’ve stumbled across this article in 2064, or something), I (actually, it was ‘we’ – my wife and I) decided enough was enough, and I closed my business.

And, after almost a decade attempting to flog the proverbial dead horse, it was a huge weight off.

-------

? From 2014 - 2019 I was the (self-titled) LinkedIn Mentor;

? That was followed by an 18-month ‘sabbatical’ battling burnout and depression (some very dark times);

? Then, through gritted teeth, I hauled myself back on the horse for a further ‘flog’ from 2021 - 2023 with Terracotta Agency.

(Side note: I also hosted a small business community called The In Crowd – some amazing people met for coffee and asked two questions: “What’s going well?” and “What’s going less well?” Good times!)

-------

In summary: I gave business my very best shot, but it just wasn’t to be.

To some – politely muttered privately rather than publicly, of course – I would be considered an abject failure – a total write-off. Just another ‘wannabe’ washed up on the brutally bloody beach of ex-entrepreneurs.

And perhaps they’re right.

But I’d like to think I’m much more than that – that I could (eventually, perhaps) offer some genuine hope and a pre-trodden way forward to those who find themselves in a similar predicament.

Yes, for some who don’t know anything about my business past, I’m ‘just’ a bus driver.

And I’m very much okay with that.

But, as I’m finding out nearly every day, I’m a bus driver with a wealth of business knowledge and life experience accrued along the weary way.

And who knows where that wealth of knowledge and life experience could lead in the next decade?

With Australian business failures (that horrible word again) expected to rise, particularly here in Western Australia, who knows where my experience and lessons learned could be directed?

I mean, helping fellow humans navigate the f-word (yep, failure) could really be a thing, right…?

I’ll stop there for now. However, if you think I’m onto something, please let me know in the comments (or via DM if you’d prefer).

In the meantime, I’ll happily continue serving my local community on the buses. (It can actually be a LOT of fun!)

Business failure isn't final, folks.

Toodle-pip, friends.

D