The Value of Failing Forward, Over and Over Again.

How is it the second week of February already?? Time flies when you are traveling and meeting up with your mastermind group to focus on the plan for 2018. I am catching up from a kick ass week with Lisa Nichols and our VIP Mastermind, and I am AMPED!

I also feel so behind!! Anyone else?

Luckily, I can leverage the tools I have shared in my book, Be A Badass: Six Tools to Up-Level Your Life and jump into action with ease!  I purposely kicked off the new year joining a new mastermind group to make sure that I continue to up-level myself to be and do more for all of you! 

Truth: I had no idea I was an overachiever until people started comparing themselves to me and would do an under heir breath comment like, "Man, you are an overachiever, aren't you?" Or something like, "How do you do it all, I can't imagine doing all of that." 

I have a looped story running in my head that I am never doing enough. I guess that is the mindset of an overachiever.

Here's the thing, I learned at a young age that if I don't try, then I won't know what I am capable of. If I allowed fear to lead me, instead of putting myself out there, I would be leading an unfulfilling life. And most of all, if I compare myself to other people like working moms, single parents, people with disabilities or injuries they are pushing through to show up in the world the best way they know how, I have no reason but to push myself hard with all the gifts I have been given to share with the world. So I push myself, and rest when I need to, in order to push myself again. 

This may seem too abstract so, I will give you an example.

One of my first failed investment in a new business venture was in 2010. I received my certification as a Holistic Health Coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, while working full time as Chief of Staff at an online communication company. I have a strong passion for health and wellness because every time I focused up-leveling my health, it would transfer into all areas of my life.

Of course getting certified as a Health Coach gave me methods of improving my health and also learned how to serve others in doing the same. My business solution driven technical mind, aka the-geek-in-me wanted to solve the problem practitioners had tracking appointments, files, and information regarding their client base. Basically how to run their business once they attracted clients.

This was way before all the online CRM, billing, scheduling, and document storage apps came into play as affordable to non-corporate users. I wanted to build a centralized place for health practitioners to go and interact with their clients with ease.

I boot-strapped the project with my own cash and built a web based platform. I took what I had learned running technical delivery projects, product management and engineering teams and had an interactive CRM, Scheduling, Invoicing, and Document Storage Product Built. It was called Revampology. It was an epic failure for three reasons:

1. I didn't validate the market would want it before I built it.

2. I had no clue how to market anything. 

3. I didn't have sales skills. 

What I did not know then, that I do now, is before you build anything, qualify the buying market needs it. I also did not do a thorough competitive analysis against what I was trying to offer.  I found out 6 months after investing in having this platform built, was that the school I just graduated from was building their own iOS based app to do exactly what I was doing on my own, for all the future students who planned to enroll in the program, and give it to them for FREE!  My target market was going to receive what I was building for a subscription fee, for free from the school. My plans for distribution were busted.

This failed because the potential to distribute I knew about was shut down, and I did not have the skill to market and sell it or partner with anyone at the time to do so.  Also, I decided to stay in my comfort zone and took an executive leadership job at another company, which meant I would not have the time to focus on my investment. 

This is only one of many failed forward events in my life. I invested $20,000 into this entrepreneurial education and it was worth it. I share this story because regardless of the money lost, I was successful! I was juggling my school work, a full time job, and building Revampology all at the same time, and the end result allows me to share what I learned with others and help them avoid making the same mistakes. 

Lessons Learned:

• I am capable of so much, and if I manage my time well, I can accomplish a lot too!

• I learned how to manage remote developers, run tests, and validate my use cases.

• I learned that market research is key before investing to make sure you have a market that wants you end product before building it. (This is why Kick Starter is so successful).

• I learned when to stop investing and let the project go, so I can focus on the next venture with ease. 

• Most of all I learned that if I don't try, I won't know for sure what works and what doesn't. 

This is one of a few failed attempts at building new technology. The education I get from each attempt helps me serve my strategic consulting business clients, because I have been through the process of where they are trying to go, and they can take advantage of my lessons learned without wasting their hard earned dollars! 

My strategic solutions consulting firm Revampologist, LLC, thrives because we are conscious of making sure the investment our clients make in us to help their business grow, optimize their operations, and introduce them to the best talent is sustainable, and can be leveraged in any market place. I would have never designed my company this way if I did not learn from failing forward and building a strong desire to help other companies or start ups avoid wasting time and money, like I have in the past. 

What I realize now, is that I have a bank of knowledge to assist those who want to start their own business and not quite sure HOW! This is going to be the foundation of the program I plan to release by the end of this year: Launch Your Badass Business. Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter to get access to the new program once it is ready. I can't wait to share it with you!!

If you need support this year, or are looking for a coach to up-level your life, I am here. Reach out and set up an appointment for us to chat 1:1 or sign up for the Badass In Training Program to get access to my online course that walks you through the Be a Badass: Six Tools to Up-Level Your Life exercises and gets you access to our BAB Community. 

I can not wait to be a part of your BADASS Journey!