Nathan,
This is so awesome for you to share this here - and kudos for Rob for creating the space for us all to be real and share our stories of trial and major learning. Awesome stuff. I love how you say: "It's funny now, it wasn't while I went through it". That is such a true statement - when we're going through something all we can do is go through it - until we get through and can learn from it, then we're only able to share.
Thanks again for sharing your realness,
Brenda

First of all, thanks a bunch, Nathan, for being bold enough to rise to the challenge. I love this story. It's my new favorite item on PeopleJam. The coolest thing to me is that even though you are brutally honest about what went wrong, you see the lessons so clearly. that's what I mean by get real. I can tell you that there are many others (like me) who can connect with you on this level because we share the same experience. What entrepreneur hasn't learned these lessons the hard way? Funny how the only way to learn this stuff is to live through it. Just be glad that you are alive, intact and able to recover. Thanks for speaking straight from the heart.

RT

Fear is the biggest obstacle that stops potential entrepreneurs from achieving their dreams. No one wants to be classified as a failure, but what you must understand that failure is part of the process of becoming a successful entrepreneur. I have fallen on my face so many times I should have facial scars. Always understand that what you think may be an infallible business opportunity can still fall on its face. Be prepared for that. Make sure you can survive if your new business venture doesn't make it. And be thankful when it does, but not so cocky that you think next great idea may not.

Success is usually a journey with many twists and turns. It is rarely a straight line. I was unsuccessful at three businesses before I developed two companies into multi-million dollar enterprises. Since then I have started several other "unsuccessful" businesses before finding another niche market that took advantage of my skills and experience. To quote a common cliche "If it were easy everyone would be doing it." I find that true about most accomplished entrepreneurs. The more attempts we make the more we learn and the closer we come to achieving our next success.

Soooooo true. And not widely known, discussed or expected. In fact, my first memory and expectation setting around this was when I read a bit from Robert Kiyosaki elaborating on failed businesses and how that's just part of the entrepreneurial cycle. The way he wrote it made me feel comfortable knowing I'm gonna lose some businesses on my way to success as an entrepreneur/business man.

I remember thinking to myself, "Ok, it's normal to take a few tries before you figure this entrepreneurial thing out. It's ok to crash and burn. It's actually good in a really scary way. I completely understand now—standing on this side.

AND I'm curious about what you did to stay in the game/keep your confidence/unwavering faith/pull it back together and go again. Losing a business is tough, how did you find the courage to move through that 3 times before you hit?

NT

There was one main memory that I kept reflecting back on that kept me moving forward even after missing the mark three times in a row. When I was a stockbroker (in my early twenties) I dealt with a variety of very wealthy individuals. I always made a point of asking them how they acheived their financial success. What I noticed was that most of them weren't necessarily exceptionally smart or talented. I had one millionaire client that bought a large parcel of land real cheap outside of Phoenix. He licensed it as a dumping station for dirt. He had two employees. One collected the money at the gate and the other ran the skip loader. He charged people when they came to dump their dirt and he charged the people when they came and picked up dirt that they needed as "fill" dirt. It was after talking to numerous people like him I realized that if these people could do it I could too. That thought got me through all those rough times. And when I finally created my first successful business venture I realized that my potential truly was limitless. Plus, keep in mind, each one of those failed attempts made me that much more "street smart" which helped me tremendously on my road to success. One other important thought I would like to pass on is this - I never had a personal mentor and professional coaches did not exist back then so I found my own mentors and coaches. I own an extensive library of books and tape programs from some of the top business and motivational talents in the entire world. Who else could anyone find that would be better to learn from?