How I almost threw away something I spent over 3+ years creating and why it was a blessing in disguise

Here’s my truth. The photo to the left is a pic of me almost exactly 2 years ago. At my peak. On top of the world. Head of Growth for one of Australia’s fastest growing Startups, working out of arguably Australia’s best Co-working space. Fast forward to 6 months ago and I almost gave up on this business. I was ready to park it and move onto the next thing.

Knowing my clients’ success (or demise) could be heavily linked to the direction in which I am providing, along with the people I am introducing them to, is something that takes its toll on your mindset/overall well-being. I want all my clients to succeed & I want all my vendors to receive fruitful business opportunities. But one thing is for certain. You can’t keep everyone happy, no matter how hard you try.

I was having trouble telling myself that, up until 6 weeks ago. I had an epiphany. All of a sudden I remembered why I started this business in the first place. BECAUSE I LOVE HELPING PEOPLE. That’s my North Star. Be a good human and do your best help those around you. As long as you’re doing what you truly believe will bring value to the people you’re helping, and you work with integrity, authenticity and transparency, it is inevitable that YOU WILL WIN.

I have been a Student of the game we label 'Entrepreneurship' for a while now. I have always had those Entrepreneurial Tendencies my whole life. And it wasn't until 2014, when I started HeadPal, that it all began to click. I was a man on a mission, set out to invent a smartphone accessory I was absolutely certain would be widely adopted.

I literally had no idea what I was doing. Whatsoever. But I had one thing all successful entrepreneurs seem to have an abundance of; Stubbornness. I was relentless and I was going to do whatever it took to make this happen. Here's a quick flow of how that went down;

• I got my mates Dad to draw up a 2D CAD drawing of my concept
• Validated the idea through 1,000 survey responses (I used SurveyMonkey, AYTM, in person responses and responses via my Facebook network)
• Applied for a Provisional Patent application
• After validating the idea I soon realised (or so I thought) I needed a substantial amount of Capital to get this thing going
• I reached out to a VC who gave me the time of day to first explain how "I am going to fail, time and time again" - but then proceeded to mentor me to a point that basically sees me where I am today
• Got a bank loan for Prototyping and a Trip to China to visit manufacturers
• Communicated with Industrial Designers to help finalise manufacturing/logistic specs
• Assembled a team and started a Company
• Put together a Kickstarter campaign (failed)
• Got maximum exposure from that campaign which resulted in offers up to $100,000 of Seed investment from a variety of different sources

It was at that moment I had to make a decision. Do I accept this investment and pretend I know how to run a Company OR do I accept an opportunity to become a Mentor and Advisor to early stage Entrepreneurs, and teach them what I had spent 3 years trying to figure out.

I decided to proceed with the latter option and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I may not have yet mastered the Art of going from Startup to Scale, but what I can say is that I have worked on over 40 different projects during my time as an Advisor, and can proudly sit here and say that OVER 20% of those projects have since GONE LIVE. Not bad considering 1 in every 10 Startups are destined to fail.

So to anyone that has ever wanted to start a business but lack that extra bit of drive, motivation or push to get going, I can promise you, one conversation with myself and YOU WILL FEEL INSPIRED to take on the world. And here’s the thing. I don’t want your money. Not yet. Not until this all makes enough sense for you to say to yourself “Yep. This is for me. I know what I am in store for. I am ABSOLUTELY ready to take this on”.

Until then; We chat. We talk. We brainstorm. We validate. We research. We plan. And we prepare. We prepare for the long, arduous, energy sapping, roller coaster ride that you are about to embark on. Because let’s not kid ourselves. That’s exactly what it is. So we prepare for that. And if you know this and you’re still ready to commit, then you’re already winning the battle. So please, get in touch, tell me about your idea, and let’s talk.