My Most Successful Failure
First, let me state that I don’t celebrate failure. But I do, as I wrote about last week in Fail, Learn, Lead, celebrate the learning that comes from failure.
Blogger Jason Markow started the idea of #FAILweek with the idea that people can share their failures, their lessons from failures, their thoughts on failing. That’s way too many fails for me. But I want to share my most successful business venture failure. Why successful? Because I didn’t lose 1 cent.
Monsoons
Several years ago myself and a few others had the idea of starting a new, franchise-able (a word?) restaurant. It was to be called Monsoons. We even had a logo, where my own weak artistic capabilities demonstrated its limits.
But we had much more than that. We had a chef, and a menu. we had an architect, and a design. And a darn fine design at that. We had a footprint plan, a franchise plan, and a financial plan. We had scouted and negotiated leases on several potential properties to launch with.
This was to capture the growing segment of fast casual, being able to eat with the convenience of fast food but the quality of a casual dining experience. It was to be pan-asian, taking advantage of an underrepresented market.
It wasn’t dissimilar to what Pei Wei is today, where I ate last week just to try it, and thought it was quite good. [That certainly doesn’t mean that we were right, just that this was some of what we had in mind.]
And then everything ground to a halt. The project died. And we moved on.
The Failure
We failed. The business stopped. The reason, without getting into particulars, is that a key strategic decision had to be made about the method of starting and ramping. On this key decision, we had very different, but deeply held views. They were deeply held enough that there was no moving forward. Only brute force would have allowed some decision. It became clear, through the insights gained during this decision, that there were other beliefs that support it that would probably mean we would struggle again. It meant the business was dead, but for the right reason.
The Success
What made this a successful failure is that we had gotten this far without spending a single dollar, a single cent. Everything was done with the currency of relationships and the asset of hustle. People worked with us with the understanding that no promises were being made, other than the one that if this went forward, they went forward with us. We collaborated with people with the idea that if nothing happened, more opportunities would come along down the road. And in the end, everyone learned something about the restaurant business, architecture, marketing, real estate, or franchising.
The Lesson
There is nothing more important than having aligned principles among founders.
If one of you believes in the quick build and flip, and other in a sustainable organic growth model, every decision will be met with strain. If one of you believes in extreme outsourcing, and the other in extreme vertical integration, progress will freeze. If one of you believes in lawyering up, and other believes in handshakes, inconsistencies will mount.
There are a lot of differences that you can get over among a group of founders whether 2 or 10. You can come from different countries, different generations, different education levels, and socio-economic backgrounds, and you can be successful.
But if you don’t approach the business with the same fundamental principles, the best business plan in the world will not save you.
Good business idea. Many stakeholders. Much to analyze.
What’s missing is ‘The Dream”. Failure comes before it and many times after. It’s difficult to collaborate on individual passion that drives ideas forward. If making money on an idea is your passion, best pitch your idea on the TV show Shark Tank.
Would we be eating at Monsoons today if one of the founding fathers saw the restaurant business as a way to cultivate their passion? How would the evaluation of passion amongst stakeholders look on paper?
Jim
Good business idea. Many stakeholders. Much to analyze.
What’s missing is ‘The Dream”. Failure comes before it and many times after. It’s difficult to collaborate on individual passion that drives ideas forward. If making money on an idea is your passion, best pitch your idea on the TV show Shark Tank.
Would we be eating at Monsoons today if one of the founding fathers saw the restaurant business as a way to cultivate their passion? How would the evaluation of passion amongst stakeholders look on paper?
Jim
Good business idea. Many stakeholders. Much to analyze.
What’s missing is ‘The Dream”. Failure comes before it and many times after. It’s difficult to collaborate on individual passion that drives ideas forward. If making money on an idea is your passion, best pitch your idea on the TV show Shark Tank.
Would we be eating at Monsoons today if one of the founding fathers saw the restaurant business as a way to cultivate their passion? How would the evaluation of passion amongst stakeholders look on paper?
Jim
Jim, I agree that is missing. But I would call that necessary but not sufficient. In this case, I believe (we can only speculate) that having a ton of passion would have probably carried us past the analytical barrier into a less successful failure, meaning we would have pushed ahead when we shouldn’t have.
Jim, I agree that is missing. But I would call that necessary but not sufficient. In this case, I believe (we can only speculate) that having a ton of passion would have probably carried us past the analytical barrier into a less successful failure, meaning we would have pushed ahead when we shouldn’t have.
Jim, I agree that is missing. But I would call that necessary but not sufficient. In this case, I believe (we can only speculate) that having a ton of passion would have probably carried us past the analytical barrier into a less successful failure, meaning we would have pushed ahead when we shouldn’t have.
I wish I could eat there now.
I like this line of thought. There’s an entrepreneurial speaker, I can’t remember his name, but his mantra was “sell a little, earn a little, learn a lot.” You didn’t do the first two. That obviously would have cost you some money so I understand. But if you could get there, you could have learned a lot.
I think the main message of the person I am referring to (I think he was on the show like Shark Tank that was on a few years ago) and of your post, is that learning is a vital element to any entrepreneur. Think about how you’re going to learn, not just after you set up your organization but even at the very concept state.
I wish I could eat there now.
I like this line of thought. There’s an entrepreneurial speaker, I can’t remember his name, but his mantra was “sell a little, earn a little, learn a lot.” You didn’t do the first two. That obviously would have cost you some money so I understand. But if you could get there, you could have learned a lot.
I think the main message of the person I am referring to (I think he was on the show like Shark Tank that was on a few years ago) and of your post, is that learning is a vital element to any entrepreneur. Think about how you’re going to learn, not just after you set up your organization but even at the very concept state.
I wish I could eat there now.
I like this line of thought. There’s an entrepreneurial speaker, I can’t remember his name, but his mantra was “sell a little, earn a little, learn a lot.” You didn’t do the first two. That obviously would have cost you some money so I understand. But if you could get there, you could have learned a lot.
I think the main message of the person I am referring to (I think he was on the show like Shark Tank that was on a few years ago) and of your post, is that learning is a vital element to any entrepreneur. Think about how you’re going to learn, not just after you set up your organization but even at the very concept state.
Obviously, Pei Wei put passions and money together. I do see your point as would many divorce attorney’s who are grateful for passion as the driving force of partnership.
As for failure, an entrepreneur knows that a dream not acted upon remains a dream. Such is why we market dream catchers, non dream fetchers. Someone has to do the hard work. Sounds like you did.
Shark Tank: Erin Whalen appeared on Shark tank to acquire cash to grow Grease Monkey Wipes. She received all thumbs down. She kept at it, and at it, and at it…what happened was she reminded the Sharks of what put them in their seat in the first place. Now that’s passion with action. She got what she wanted. http://bit.ly/7U7Vs0
Jim
Jim
Obviously, Pei Wei put passions and money together. I do see your point as would many divorce attorney’s who are grateful for passion as the driving force of partnership.
As for failure, an entrepreneur knows that a dream not acted upon remains a dream. Such is why we market dream catchers, non dream fetchers. Someone has to do the hard work. Sounds like you did.
Shark Tank: Erin Whalen appeared on Shark tank to acquire cash to grow Grease Monkey Wipes. She received all thumbs down. She kept at it, and at it, and at it…what happened was she reminded the Sharks of what put them in their seat in the first place. Now that’s passion with action. She got what she wanted. http://bit.ly/7U7Vs0
Jim
Jim
Obviously, Pei Wei put passions and money together. I do see your point as would many divorce attorney’s who are grateful for passion as the driving force of partnership.
As for failure, an entrepreneur knows that a dream not acted upon remains a dream. Such is why we market dream catchers, non dream fetchers. Someone has to do the hard work. Sounds like you did.
Shark Tank: Erin Whalen appeared on Shark tank to acquire cash to grow Grease Monkey Wipes. She received all thumbs down. She kept at it, and at it, and at it…what happened was she reminded the Sharks of what put them in their seat in the first place. Now that’s passion with action. She got what she wanted. http://bit.ly/7U7Vs0
Jim
Jim
You remind me of one of my earlier careers, when a friend and I had a company making skateboarding shoes. (Well, we outsourced production to Korea, but that’s another story. . . . ) We were extremely different in temperament, personality, and beer preference, but we were completely in synch when it came to our beliefs and what kind of company we wanted to build. And that made all the difference.
You remind me of one of my earlier careers, when a friend and I had a company making skateboarding shoes. (Well, we outsourced production to Korea, but that’s another story. . . . ) We were extremely different in temperament, personality, and beer preference, but we were completely in synch when it came to our beliefs and what kind of company we wanted to build. And that made all the difference.
You remind me of one of my earlier careers, when a friend and I had a company making skateboarding shoes. (Well, we outsourced production to Korea, but that’s another story. . . . ) We were extremely different in temperament, personality, and beer preference, but we were completely in synch when it came to our beliefs and what kind of company we wanted to build. And that made all the difference.
I think the lesson highlights the need to have core values aligned with in the company. Every company needs a true north; the point where you are heading. Without knowing all the details sounds like everyone’s true north was a bit different and all the compasses were pointing everyone in different directions.
I can definitely say I have had my fair share of failures in business and can appreciate the story.
Ankit
I think the lesson highlights the need to have core values aligned with in the company. Every company needs a true north; the point where you are heading. Without knowing all the details sounds like everyone’s true north was a bit different and all the compasses were pointing everyone in different directions.
I can definitely say I have had my fair share of failures in business and can appreciate the story.
Ankit
I think the lesson highlights the need to have core values aligned with in the company. Every company needs a true north; the point where you are heading. Without knowing all the details sounds like everyone’s true north was a bit different and all the compasses were pointing everyone in different directions.
I can definitely say I have had my fair share of failures in business and can appreciate the story.
Ankit