Let’s face it; opening a new business is MEGA EXCITING!!! It’s a blissful adrenaline rush that has you feeling invincible. During this time most people fantasize about the profits they’re going to rake in and even think about what they’re going to do with all their riches…

Fast forward 3- 5 months: Reality begins to set in: Sales are marginal (and in many cases, NONE.) You officially begin to understand what the term “Oh Sh*t Mode” actually means. Slowly the sinking feeling of regret, disgust, frustration and even depression begin permeating your mind. You start to wonder if you made the biggest mistake of your life as you write a check to pay yet another bill that you haven’t made enough money to pay. You try to suppress the feeling of fear. You tell yourself “Don’t worry! The sales will come next month and everything will be ok. I just need to wait a couple more weeks then things will be GREAT!”... but in the back of your mind you know this is doubtful. SO NOW WHAT?

Let’s backup a little:

I’m sure your grandma has told you those wise “old people sayings”, such as “hindsight is 2020”... but you never really understand this until you live it. So, before we can find a solution let’s delve into the problem:

POTENTIAL PROBLEM #1 (VERY, VERY COMMON!!!!): RUNNING OUT OF MONEY: You took out a loan, borrowed against your retirement or maxed out a credit card to create your “dream business” HOWEVER, you had very little knowledge of the industry. In fact, you may have even created your business based on The 80+ Worst Reasons to Ever Start Your Own Small Business.

This means you did what someone else, possibly a dude on YouTube or a hot tattooed chick from Instagram, told you would get you rich QUICK (we have all seen those advertisements “Hey, Look! I’m driving a Ferrari! Do you want a Ferrari? Just start your own online store… and buy my eBook for $19.99!”.

With little research you jumped to order merchandise and rushed to bang out listings…. Now you find yourself sitting here, clicking “refresh” on Poshmark or your own website hoping that eventually you will get a notification that something finally sold. *sigh!*

Your panic-mode is starting to set in because you are watching the weeks turn into days then the days turn into hours before your next monthly bills are due.

Regardless, it’s too late to turn back now. What’s important here is to recognize that you essentially “bit off more than you could chew” (thanks again, gramma!) and you need to battle your way out of the mess. Don’t worry, this article is here to help you save yourself!

POTENTIAL PROBLEM #2 (VERY, VERRRRRRRYYYYY COMMON): MISCONCEPTION: You started a business to have more free time / family time / enjoy life

I have personally known many, many people who thought starting their own company was the ultimate solution to avoiding working 9am-5pm Monday - Friday. However they quickly realize that without coworkers to help them with their tasks, the 40-hour work week turns into 80+ hours… with no vacation time… no weekends off… not even a single holiday to relax. This is the time that the revelation hits; “I traded a 40 hour work week for an 80 hour work week… and on top of that, I am spending money and not getting paid a dime… wtf?” - again, this article is here to help you, so keep reading.

POTENTIAL PROBLEM #3: (90+% OF PEOPLE MAKE THIS MISTAKE!) SELLING THE WRONG ITEMS: I have written about this for years (in fact, I think the first time I ever wrote about this topic was on my very first blog back in 2007 or so); this occurs when you invest in products you know nothing at all about, couldn’t care less about, having no motivation about and only bought them because OTHER PEOPLE TOLD YOU THEY SELL GREAT. Basically, you bought into a company you have 0 passion for because it was someone elses dream…. Yet you *think* if you copy their dream you will have the same success. Two quick questions for you

How do you KNOW they are even successful? Have they shown you all of their ban statements? P&L statements? Their credit card bills? Have they remortagaged? My point is, looks can be very deceiving. We already know that the vast majority of music videos are recorded using “Air B&B” home rentals in addition to paid models and rented sports cars…. Essentially, it’s all a mirage.

Why do you want to follow THEIR DREAM instead of your own? For example, if my dream is to sell vintage My Little Pony character toys and if I TELL you I made 4 million dollars a year selling them because I have spent 33 years learning about them, why in Gods name would you also want to do this if you are a diehard Stamp collector or Matchbox car expert? If collecting stamps is your true passion then why wouldn’t you pursue an amazing venture in stamps? If you know everything-about-everything about Matchbox, why are you putting a cent into toy horses????

Again, keep reading because I am here to help.

So, these are the three most common reasons for failure that are so taboo that nobody wants to discuss them. Sure, there’s plenty of other reasons, but they essentially all boil down to:

• Biting Off More Than You Can Chew (lets call this “Moved WAY too Quickly)
• Wanting “What’s Easy / Easier”
• Stupidity

HOW TO FIX IT - PART 1:

Regardless of the mistake there are a handful of fixes, but before you can fix the problem you have to accept a few TRUTHS. Let’s look at the PAINFUL REALITY OF LIFE:

In business, nothing is guaranteed besides the bills being due monthly (I think Mr. Wonderful said this once on Shark Tank and it has always stuck with me. It could have been Cuban. Either way, someone said it and it’s super true). If you are literally going broke, the hurtful reality is that you ARE NOT going to be an overnight sensation and sell enough merch in the next 2 weeks to magically pay all the bills. I’m sorry, it sucks, but I know you would rather have someone tell it to you straight than tell you what you want to hear while you fail.

“You can’t fix stupid”… but you can try to salvage what is salvageable from the stupidity. We all make bad investments and have bad ideas. I figured out what works purely by discovering every incorrect way to do something that I eventually landed on a feasible option. You are NOT alone.

“Live and Learn”; Ok so you royally blew it this time but you gotta admit you did try something new and you absolutely did learn from it. Wisdom is gained through learning. So this crappy situation WILL make you a wiser person long term. You have now gained the expertise that this idea was terrible and I guarantee you won’t end up in this identical position again with these same items and such.

Like Kenny Rogers once sang in The Gambler; “Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run."  - no truer words.

HOW TO FIX IT - PART 2

Ok, so, we know everything is going lousy. Here’s the only way out, dependant upon your exact situation:

BROKE + ABOUT TO LOSE EVERYTHING: If you have reached this point you should have listened to Mr. Kenny Rogers and “folded ‘em” long before now. You’re playing a losing game and hoping for a hail mary miracle pass to save you. Although miracles do happen, this is just idiotic. INSTEAD: Liquidate what you have NOW, like IMMEDIATELY. Use that money to survive. In the meantime, get a job / source of actual guaranteed income. While you work your job, think about how you can restart your company when you’re not backed into a corner where you may end up homeless. When the right time arrives, start fresh and you will be absolve to think with a clear mind because you are not pissing away your lifeline.

MISCONCEPTION; THIS SH*T AIN’T EASY!!!: The absolute truth is that it’s only going to get more difficult, more time consuming, more mentally exhausting and more complex as time goes on. If you sincerely think it will becomes easier as sales begin coming in, this is actually false because now you have to take away from your other job responsibilities and take on a full-time roll of shipping. If you think “well I’ll just hire someone to do X, Y-and-Z”; in theory this would indeed make your life easier however you now have to deal with that persons (or those peoples) schedules, needs and quite frequently, dishonesty. Like Biggie Smalls once said “Mo Money, Mo Problems” - I wish Big and Mr. Rogers produced a collaboration called “You Got Mo Problems” because I’m on year #16 of business and it’s the story of my life, lol!

Point being, if you’re already disappointed in the work, seriously, quit. If you’re miserable now you’re going to hate waking up in 3 years. Happiness is paramount. You’ll be so much happier if you find something else that you actually enjoy.

SELLING THE WRONG ITEMS (OR WRONG DREAM): If you have come to the realization that you are trying to live someone elses dream because it seemed awesome, my most honest advice to you would be to get rid of that stock and buy stock you LOVE!!!! If you’re a wristwatch fanatic, pick up a couple dozen of those. If you are crazy about cooking, grab yourself some kitchen merch and if you can’t resist checking out the newest movie reviews, create a company based around your passion; think of the possibilities! You could offer a solid blog that is monetized with subscriptions to Hulu, Netflix, Prime Movies and more. Combine that with affiliate income from sales of movie snacks, home movie decor and even stocking your own theater-style merch… you have a stellar business that you love going to every day, and that, my friends, is the key to success!