What happens when you get it wrong. Yes, it’s something many startup entrepreneurs don’t even consider. But it happens! I know, it sure happened to me and a whole lot of people I know.
My first attempt at being an entrepreneur was at the age of 26. I had a great job paying me a good salary, but I had ideas. And good ones too. So I decided to go for it. The market was booming and I had plenty of good ideas. So what went wrong?
Mistake #1: The wrong partner
I needed funding and found someone who was willing to invest some money and become a partner. So we started and it was not as easy as I thought. Eventually I did get to a point where everything got together and it was going to seriously take off. And oh yes, the partner I chose, was a mistake. A big one. So he had to go. But he did not abide by the laws and did everything you can think of and more, to torpedo my upcoming success. So badly, that I had no choice but to give it up and I ended up with nothing. It took several years to pick up the pieces.
Mistake #2: The wrong country
Many years later, I had another opportunity to go for it. I did and was successful for 5 years. This time I started with several good customers that ordered monthly for many years. Everything was going great and my business was growing like you won’t believe. Then came the growth problem, more cash was needed to fund the growth. I tried everything and just bounced from jealousy to small thinking. No way to get to the next level. And again, I had it to give it up. This time I was simply in the wrong country. And this time it took 7 years to get everything in order again. Bad credit and so forth.
Where you incorporate is also of the utmost importance. As you may well know, all the big boys, have incorporated their main revenues engine in Ireland. Nice, low corporate tax rates. And that is then funneled to wherever the main money deposit is located (mostly offshore somewhere).
Mistake #3: And so forth
Oh yes, there are so many mistakes you can make that we can not possibly list them all. Many of them are only learned the hard way, alas. Unless you have an experienced business advisor that can help you putting it all together. My advice: get a business advisor you can trust. No, not necessarily your accountant. They are not business mentors. And experience? With what, running their accountant office?
Getting it right
And that’s what I want to convey to you. Get it right the first time! Don’t cut corners. Do the homework and definitely get yourself an experienced business-consultant to write your business plan, do a detailed market research and close-to-reality financial projections. Don’t try to save a few bucks on this. Get it done right. It can spare you a whole lot of misery. I know, I’ve been there and done that. And it was definitely no fun.