What if everything is for nothing?

Hey, there friends,

Life has been pretty intense lately.

I'm still in London. I've had a terrible cold, made some uncomfortable decisions, and launched a series of live interviews with entrepreneurs (check them out here).

These past weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions and insights.

One fear's been shouting louder than the rest.

Since we want to do something at Parentool that doesn't follow the "business rules book, " the thoughts of failing came up stronger than ever.

What if we screw up big time, and everything we've worked for goes down the drain?

Boom!

It's the classic entrepreneur's nightmare:

What if everything is for nothing?

All the sacrifices.

All the money.

All the hopes.

All the promises.

What if everything we've poured into this dream turns out to be a bust?

When this thought came to mind, I did something I had started to practice recently.

I started questioning it.

• Is it 100% true that if I fail, everything is in vain?
• What does ''losing'' mean to me?
• What does ''winning'' look like to me?
• If it doesn't work, can I transform this into something else?

All these questions lead me to one answer: nothing ever goes to waste.

See, with entrepreneurship, we often equate success with money, stats, and metrics. They matter, sure. But that's only part of the story.

It's a journey that transforms you in ways you can't predict.

After questioning my ''what if everything is for nothing'' a couple of wins started to surface:

• Starting a business skyrocketed my self-confidence. From Petruta, who took everything at heart and wasn't quite sure of what she was capable of doing, to Petruta 2.0, who knows that if she puts her mind to work, it will always come up with a solution
• Starting a business expanded my network. Through all the startup programs, online communities, pitching sessions, and so on, I have met many amazing people—people who think big and aren't afraid to go against the crowd. This showed me that a bigger life is waiting for me outside my bubble.
• Starting a business has given me experiences I never thought of. I have been a speaker and jury member, visited the European Parliament in Bruxelles, had dinner with Dacian Ciolos, been on TV and radio, and given interviews for the media—experiences that I will forever cherish.
• Starting a business has given me freedom—freedom to turn my vision into reality, choose when I work best, choose the people I want to work with, and travel without constraints. But more than this, it has given me the freedom to know myself better, to see how I react in different situations, and to challenge my view about the future.
• Starting a business changed the relationships around me. It showed me who really cares about me, who the people in my tribe are, and what I actually value.

And there's plenty more where that came from.

In business, just like in life, nothing's wasted. Everything evolves.

I hope this sheds some light on your journey and gives you a boost of hope.

Hugs

Petruta

See you soon at:

• Creators. comm event on the 20th of March. I will talk about business strategy.
• ''La primul business'' (At the first business) live series on Instagram where I interview first time entrepreneurs.
• If you want to work together, you can check all the details here.
• I'm working on launching Business ABC, a workshop on what you need to know before starting a business. Let me know if you have any fears or questions that I should address.