Business Risks.
I’ve had a vague type of success with my businesses. They haven’t made me millions, but I am doing well.
Looking back at the last nine years, since I started living by myself at 22 in a foreign country, I can see a clear trend concerning business.
Everything that went well happened when I took some risks. I moved into a great new office when the business was almost bankrupt, using the last funds available in the bank for the deposit. I had a robust hypothesis that I could make enough sales in the next thirty to sixty days to stay in business. My strategy was to invite potential clients to the new office as they would be impressed.
It worked, and I went on an epic sales run that hasn’t really ended several years later.
I bought mad.co for $20,000. It was a risk; I wasn’t sure if it would be worth it. A year on, I am sure it was worth it. The domain gives instant credibility online and with remote clients, now that we have more of them.
The entire idea of starting Blue was quite crazy. We were building a product that would be a direct competitor to some of the largest and hottest companies coming out of Silicon Valley. And making it would with a small team with almost no budget.
And yet it works. What was the % risk when I started the company? 99%? 80%?
I have no idea, but I am glad I took the risk.
This doesn’t mean that one should always take risk. It has to be a measured approach, and there has to be some logic applied. Ideally, you want a limited amount of downside with a significant or unlimited upside.
