MY FIRST BUSINESS FLOPPED!
Serial entrepreneur, Eric Thomas is best known for his mantra, “If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, you will be successful.”
If that statement rattles you, maybe entrepreneurship isn’t your thing OR maybe it lights a fire under you and makes you say
“YEAH, ERIC!”
Either way, I’m sure we can agree that it’s our human nature to evolve, but maybe somewhere along the way, the media moved inside our head and began reconstructing our ideas of success?
So we started seeing home ownership as success, $24/hr as success, getting a mortgage, or weekends off as success, etc.
If I’ve rattled you again, take note and maybe explore why you feel that way?
T H I N K A B O U T I T
As children, we explored the WHAT IF’S in life ; without fear!
We said “NO” when we wanna and “YES” when we wanna!
We pursued our goals, relentlessly. Even if that meant climbing up the cabinet to reach it!
Let’s not forget the freedom of thought! The untainted child-like mind that allows us to view life un-compromised and never knowing that failure was an option.
So today, I’m getting super vulnerable and sharing on The Wall Blog, how I pushed my way into my success after failing, failing, and failing again.
FALL 2014, I got a taste of what success could be through my summer job at PLATOS CLOSET. They didn’t know it, but I was studying their system of buying + reselling designer brands for profit. They were literally earning profits from every single customer and if you’ve been, you know what I mean. lol
When I returned to college, I began thrifting in search of similar designer clothes that frequently sold at Platos like EXPRESS and The North Face.
Then I started reselling them on platforms like OFFER UP / EBAY / POSHMARK / AMAZON
I’d spend hourssss washing, sorting, photographing, and uploading each piece online.
When inquiries poured in, I respond lighting fast to close the sale!
At one point, I had sold everything but my fiancé’ and my kitten.
I earned a little over $1700 over 2 months from using the same system I studied at Platos, but eventually I became greedy and took out a $5,000 loan to start funding NEW high ticket items that I literally knew nothing about – hoping to make higher profits!
“Since I’m spending soo much time on this, I deserve higher profits.” i thought…
So I used the $5,000 to grow my inventory from 30 items to 70 items.
& I quickly realized, I was making emotional lead decisions that sounded something like . . .
“OMG, SO MANY PEOPLE WOULD LOVE THIS!” instead of researching “HOW MANY PEOPLE PURCHASED THIS ITEM IN THE LAST 30 DAYS?”
& GUESS WHAT? The new items never sold and I was forced to donate 15-20 items from my inventory! I was beyond defeated.
The only thing that remained was my loan payments. LOL
In December 2020 I paid them off and boy was that an expensive lesson! LOL I was really disgusted at myself!
Listen, you don’t need a lot of money to start a business!!! You simply need to know your product inside + out.
You need to be relentless in entrepreneurship and keep going until you find your sweet spot.
I started Cleveland Flower Walls with $900 and have earned over 100k in less than 2 years! The lessons never stop, but the rewards get better.
Don’t worry, I’ll be explaining how in my next blog !!
Also…
If you don’t know our story, Read our first blog
“what inspired CFW” for the back story!
Unsolicited Advice
There is a difference between wishing for something being ready to receive it. No one is ready for something until they believe they can acquire it. The mind must be in a state of belief not mere hope or wish.
Don’t underestimate the power of written plan and faith!!
Write out your dreams, create a detailed plan on how you’ll achieve it, then dedicate every moment to achieving it.
Thank you friend for making it this far. XOXO