Some of my friends think I’m crazy. Their words echo in my head as I walk down the street, even when I’m alone.
“Don’t spend that much money.”
“Isn’t that risky?”
“What are you going to do if it fails?”
So far, I’ve invested $4,296.13 in my business, and we’re not due to launch for another month.
There’s things I’ve spent more money on that aren’t as questioned. A lot more money, actually. College and all the fees, vacations to “once in a lifetime” places, rent in NYC with all the opportunities it provides. But starting a business—that is an investment that’s questioned.
I’ve worked at startups my whole career, and I always said that after three different ones, I would start my own company. And here I am, one month out from my last day at the third startup I worked at, doing exactly that.
When I was younger, I just wanted to start a company because I thought it was cool. Now, there’s a lot more reasons: some personal, like being able to work on my own time, and some professional, like the vast assortment of things I’ll learn (and have already learned) throughout this process.
The biggest reason is passion—I love the product I make and I want it to be out there in the world for people to use.
While I’ve always known I wanted to start a company, it took me time to think of the right product. I had many ideas over the years, but it was only after a conversation with a friend where we discussed some successful businesses—not just successful based on revenue, but longevity—and realized that even with unique products that we thought might not have been as popular, they were all products that the founders were passionate about.
I’m passionate about a few things, but the one that came to mind after that conversation with my friend was the card games that I’ve been making with my sister for years. And a few months later, those are the products that just passed their final sample round and are going into production this week, and that’s the company I made.
Some days I feel so confident. I’ve seen the laughter people have had when they’ve played the game. I’ve seen people be brought closer together by playing the game. I’ve heard the positive feedback.
And some days I feel so much doubt. There’s so many other games out there, why would people want this one? What if people get tired of the game? What if no one wants it?
That’s all part of the game, I suppose (no pun intended). It’s not normal or expected or typical to spend your money starting a business—it’s normal and expected and typical to spend that money on vacations or clothing or investing it in the S&P 500.
Anyway, here goes nothing. The money is spent, and I filed the LLC. I’ll still be sharing my typical personal finance and monthly reset content, but I’ll share some business progress here and there. Even if I fail, I’ve already learned a lot, and anyway, the only failure is in not trying, right?
congrats!! this is so exciting :)