Snap of a finger

Back on track with another project and startup after 5 years, and I see that things really haven't changed much.

Things have improved, sure, I've gotten a bit "wiser", which surely does help when it comes to decision making. But the similar hurdles of the past still remain. Yet, if setting up a successful business was that easy, then everyone would do it. I say it's the abruptness of different outcomes, it's the uncertainty, that pushes people away from the "business" sector, evading the path of the entrepreneur.

In business there's one moment when everything around you is operating smoothly, seamlessly falling into place, and just at the next moment things can take a sudden U-turn, at the snap of a finger.

That's business, you risk your money, your time, and sometimes your sanity.

As they say...

Bigger the risk, bigger the reward

And I believe I'm young enough to be taking risks, so why the hell not?

Our second batch of 3D printed orders and art pieces have arrived, all the way from London, and with that my biggest fear has come true as well.

From day 1 I've been mentioning the same thing again and again; the distance our packages will have to travel, and the risks of damage that our fragile products may endure, that thought has been eating up my brain for the past 2 to 3 months. On top of that, the people working at the customs and courier sector don't really handle the products too well; which quite easily turns these thoughts into nightmares.

So, my fear wasn't me being extra, or pessimistic, I was just being real.

Even though we chose a fairly fast and "premium" courier service, with all the bubble wrap and solid boxes covering up the products, things somehow still didn't go our way. Multiple layers of protection from all around; yet, after a lengthy unboxing experience we still found some products that were damaged.

I knew something like this would happen. Even though my business partners and those close to us told us not to worry, mentioning how "durable enough" these products are and how these new courier services were more careful when handling such products. Even with heaps of assurance all around, I still had my doubts.

Let's say we didn't face any physical damage, there would at least be some sort of an inconvenience that would've popped up.

And we can't forget, that we have another round of delivering to do, locally this time.

The products being packed and dispatched from here to another courier service, and then from there it'd be distributed all over the city and country, being handed over to the consumers. So, there's another layer of "risk management" that we have to take care of still.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to running a business, having a solid product and service is just the beginning, and I believe we've cracked that. Yet, there's still market penetration, advertising of the products to the proper crowd, customer service, proper delivery service, and a lot more.

Yet, even then success isn't promised. When will you get your big break? Even your customers and the market itself does not have the answer to that.

For now we worry about the damages, that has taken out a fair chunk of our profits. As we keep trying to figure out a better and efficient way to our get our products from A to B.

But hey, at least we didn't lose money on our first run. Not bad, eh? Hopefully next time we "get it right".

Sometimes by losing a battle you find a new way to win the war. - Donald Trump