Member-only story
Terrified By Success
I’ve failed so much, I’m not sure what to do when things go right
When I was in college, I told my (now) wife that I had no desire to be an entrepreneur. It was enough to put my head down, do my work, get paid, then go home.
It didn’t take me very long to realize the biggest folly with my plan: a lot of employers suck. Plus somewhere along the way I’d developed a desire to try to do it better, and found that my suggestions fell on deaf ears while I was a corporate cog.
So for years I’ve been trying to get my own thing going, from tax websites to writing fiction to business plans and developing classes. Each one has had some level of success, but none a much as I had hoped.
Were my products any good? I really couldn’t say for sure, since the thing I really sucked at was developing an audience.
Finally, I’ve gone back to what I really know: taxes. I started a company with some friends. I acquired some clients from someone getting out of the game. Now, it seems to be right at the point where it’s taking off.
And all I can think is, “So how is this one going to fall apart?”
