Between 2015 – 2020, I experimented with lots of different business ideas however nothing seemed to work. Call it the experimentation period.
Throughout this time, I was convinced that my lack of business success was due to a character flaw of some sort.
Potential flaws I considered included:
– not being able to commit to a business long term?
– not intelligent enough to run a business?
– was trying too hard to make it happen. Maybe if I relaxed, a good business idea would naturally come to me?
The difficulties of the experimentation period
Some of the difficulties of the experimentation period include:
– there is no certainty that any of your ideas will ever work
– there is no guideline to follow so it’s very hard to know where you should be spending your time
– it can be embarrassing to be putting your effort and reputation into things that don’t work (over and over again)
– this period requires so much energy input, yet financially often rewards you with nothing (and usually costs more money than it generates)
Part of the Process
Some people land on a great idea first time, for others the experimentation period can be a LONG journey. In any case, the experimentation period is just part of the process to creating a business that works.
One piece of solace to take from the experimentation period however is that you’re not rolling the same set of dice each time that you attempt a new idea.
Each time you attempt a new business venture, you can leverage the learnings you made from previous experiments to make success a little bit more likely.
Conclusion
If you don’t give up, eventually the right business will present itself to you via your experimentation.
2021 and 2022 were the first two years wherein I was enabled to do nothing other than work on garymelican.com and even begin growing the team.
They have honestly been two incredible years. So much so, that I would be happy doing this for the rest of my life.
I guess the learning here is that if you’re at the experimentation stage, perhaps don’t be too hard on yourself and accept that it’s just part of the process until the right business evolves for you.
Thank you for reading,
Gary
