I have spent most of my life failing, or so it seems. When I think of failure, I can see a list of things half-done, not accomplished, or downright failed. Thankfully, I have been blessed with a healthy dose of optimism, so I can keep going and keep trying. In fact, I don’t spend a lot of time looking at past failures, and you shouldn’t either. But from time to time, it is a good idea to reflect on failure. If you can figure out what went wrong, if you can identify a negative pattern, you can learn from it.
That is what Jason Markow had in mind when he started #FAILweek. He wanted businesses to look at their failures not for the failure, but for what can be learned from it. And in encouraging people to share failures, the hope is that others who come behind can more easily learn fr0m our mistakes.
The Potential
The failure I am going to share here is only a half failure. It is the story of what could have been, and maybe a little about the potential that is still there.
I little over a year ago, I was just getting going with my blog and was getting more and more active on Twitter. I still didn’t really know anybody on Twitter. That all changed when I sent out a tweet something to the effect of “I feel like an idea wrangler.” This tweet was read by Neal Rohrbach, a truly amazing and creative guy. Something about what I said hit home with him. We had “met” prior to this on a Twitter chat called #sbbuzz and had gotten along. So Neal, being the go-getter that he is, got inspired and registered a domain name. IdeaWranglers.com wasn’t available, so he registered IdeaAnglers.com instead. The rest, as they say, is history.
When Neal let me know what he did on a whim, I was surprised and excited. At the time, I was also buying up all kinds of domains and dreaming of the businesses that I was going to start with them. In Neal, I found someone with similar passions, and most importantly, the same heart to help others, especially entrepreneurs. So when I found out what he did, I naturally said, okay, lets see where this takes us.
Where it took us was a partnership. We wanted to develop Idea Anglers to be a site that helped small business owners. We wanted to make money at the same time. A membership site seemed to be the natural fit. So Neal created a site and a great logo (he is a graphic designer, among other things). I brainstormed concepts. We pre-launched and immediately got some good traction. Everyone liked the idea, or more accurately, the story of two strangers meeting on Twitter and launching a business.
The Failure
The idea was the problem. We never really nailed down exactly what we wanted to do. I take the blame for this, since that was primarily my department. I tend to have too many ideas. Turns out, I needed the kind of help that Idea Anglers would eventually offer. Unfortunately, I needed it before Idea Anglers was there to help.
What we ended up with was two very creative people trying to build a broad-based solution for entrepreneurs. We never found the kind of focus we needed, I now realize. Secondly, we both had full time jobs plus side projects we were already working on. We were very busy, so we didn’t have the kind of time we needed to get things launched. So very little time plus not knowing what to focus on when we did find the time meant we couldn’t push it forward fast enough. The fact that we pushed it as far as we did is a testament to what can be accomplished when you work together on something with shared passion.
There were lots of good things. Neal and I got along really well, and still do. I found out that you can really establish meaningful friendships with people that you meet online. Also, it is possible to meet business partners online. Knowing that, what we should have done was narrowed down a focus really fast and then sought to bring more people in to help run things, people who had more time and more focused expertise.
The Education
Idea Anglers is not dead. It is just on vacation. Neal has a great new job that keeps him even busier than before. I am trying to build a business of my own, plus grow this blog. Idea Anglers still fits into my vision of helping small businesses, but it will play a very specific role when I am ready for it.
The lessons I learned are many.
First of all, there is nothing wrong with trying. I got a great friendship out of this. I also saw how opportunities can open up if you just go after them.
Second, it is possible to build meaningful relationships online. My goal this year is to increase those friendships and build on the ones that I have started.
Third, collaboration is better than working at something alone. Idea Anglers would have never gone anywhere if it was just an idea in my head. By bouncing things back and forth with another party, you can move things forward. The key is to have a focus and goals.
Going from here, I have plans. Perhaps too many plans, still. I appreciate more the importance of focus, so I am focusing on fewer things. I want to help small businesses in a lot of ways, perhaps eventually having a full-service coaching/consulting agency. But for now, I am just focusing on one area where I can be of service, helping small businesses with web sites and online marketing. Of course, I am also focusing on this blog and making it better and more dynamic.
I am also going to explore collaboration more and get better at reaching out. I value things like Twitter so much more when I am having meaningful interactions there. I want to build on that. I still want to build some things with other people. This time, however, I am going to go in with a plan and spend time up front building a focus and specific goals.
And maybe there is one more lesson. Neal and I are both very creative. We thrive on the ideas. If we wanted to build a membership site, what we should have done was bring in an expert in that. A good expert can really help you focus your ideas and broad thoughts, no matter what they are. When you are having trouble moving forward, but you know you have good ideas, I really suggest getting some expert help.
So that is my story of failure. It wouldn’t be a good story if there wasn’t something to learn from it. How have you used failure as a learning tool for success? Because that is all failure is, another tool that you can use to build your dreams. Its nothing to be afraid of, really.
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Bradford Shimp helps small businesses build web sites and online presence. Follow him on Twitter @bradfordshimp.
