I’ve learned the hard way that in business, if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not learning.

After more than 20 years as an entrepreneur, I’ve lost count of the learnings I’ve had.

Now, I couldn’t tell you that I was in direct control of all of the situations that have caused me grief, but I sure as hell can say that I learned from each and every one.

You might know by now that I’ve run businesses in seven different industries, but not many people know the specific businesses I’ve been involved in.

In this article I’ll highlight one of the key learnings from my time running a business in the events industry.

A familiar story: an opportunity spiralled out of control

You might have read one of my previous pieces, where I referenced my construction business growing out of control, and I soon felt out of my depth.

Although my construction business was many years later, the origins are very similar to my events business because both grew from an initial opportunity I spotted, into something a lot bigger.

The dream side hustle turned into a nightmare priority

While me and my business partner initially started the events business with very little capital, we ended up organising events that saw us (mainly me!) investing tens of thousands of pounds.

We experienced some huge successes along the way, and our reputation grew too, but our lack of focus ended up turning the dream side hustle into a nightmare priority.

During the final stages of planning one of our events, where a high-profile artist was due to headline for us, we were presented with a major issue.

The event was already running late because we were waiting for contracts to be signed with the artist, and we’d already invested a significant amount of money in advance of the event, so cancelling it wasn’t an option.

With about 8 weeks to go, we had an email from the artist’s agent telling us that he now couldn’t commit to the event, and we suddenly had to find a replacement act to headline for us.

How do you react when your back’s against the wall?

To put this into context, for our previous events we’d normally had a minimum of 10-12 weeks to promote and sell tickets, so we found ourselves really up against it.

With our backs against the wall, the adrenaline quickly kicked in, and I focused on how I could turn the situation around.

The choice I had was to lose the money I’d already invested without trying to overcome the challenge, or work as hard as I could to find a solution.

I chose the second option, and through a lot of hard work we were able to deliver a great event. But the outcome could have been very different.

I quickly found myself needing to reinvest the profits I’d made from other, more successful, businesses, into this event, and I was suddenly in a position where I had to constantly chase my tail, because everything that could have possibly gone wrong, did.

My key learning from this experience:

Looking back now, we definitely weren’t anywhere near as professional as we could or should have been, or as I would expect now.

My business partner was 21 and I was 25 at the time, and we both had other priorities. He was focusing on his full-time job, and I had another business that took up most of my time.

The foundations of the business weren’t there, and treating the business as a side hustle even when it had clearly outgrown that, meant that the business wasn’t strong enough to weather stormy conditions.

When those challenges arrived then, as they always do, we panicked and had to react to our environment at the time.

This is why the first things I focus on with my clients are having that clarity of vision for their business, and ensuring there are strong foundations in place as early as possible. I know too well that without these things, you’re likely to come unstuck and cause yourself unnecessary stress later down the road.

I’ve learned a lot during my 20 years in business. A lot of the learnings hit me in my pocket financially, but more importantly, all the stress definitely combined together to cause my breakdown.

I often look back now and think “if only I’d had my own coach. Someone to support me. Someone to learn from.”

That’s why I now work with entrepreneurs who are, in many ways, similar to me in the early days.

After more than 20 years as an entrepreneur, running businesses in seven different industries, I’m on a mission to help early-stage entrepreneurs avoid the mistakes I’ve made, to turn their distraction into action, and to grow their business.

If you’d like to find out how I could help you, please click here to book a discovery call.