I can relate to so much of this, including the timeline and multiple hits to the business. Most importantly the feeling that you can’t give up because so much is on the line. We launched a new product in 2019 that we put significant investment in, including selling our house. We took most of the money the government would give us during the pandemic, but the business just hasn’t been able to overcome the debt. We’re still pushing forward but mostly because we don’t know what else to do. My husband and I own the business together and there isn’t any home to take, but we can’t imagine what bankruptcy would look like because of those personal guarantees or who the hell would hire us after close to 15 years of working for ourselves. And yet every time I talk to a fellow entrepreneur who would most likely understand I answer the inevitable question “How are things going?” With “We’re still here.” As though that’s a positive thing.
This is required reading for all aspiring entrepreneurs. Really, why is entrepeneurship so fetishized?! So much of small business ownership is that feeling of "I must go on" with the unbelievable financial pressures and moral obligations... it can be suffocating. Thanks for sharing it all.
Thanks Lauren, that is certainly my goal in sharing. I hope that entrepreneurs at an earlier point in their journey might reconsider what has become a standard path knowing of the hardship I experienced - at least when it comes to assuming so much personal liability (financially and emotionally) on behalf of a business. This should not be the norm.
What a great piece! Thank you for sharing. If it were not taboo to speak frankly on all things start-up/small business, or if there were better guides to scaling a capital-intensive food business, it would be so helpful.
I am sure it might never feel this way to you, but I view you as successful. You took a swing for the fences. You did it! I so admire that and admire you.
Thank you for sharing such a personal account of your business experience!
Heather, again our worlds collide, but this time with similarities I would not have wished upon anyone. There are so many lines in this article that I could have written but didn’t dare to. Congrats on the courage to be honest and heartfelt about the risks and failures of small business ownership. Electric City Butcher and Primal Supply have much the same story--although, kuddos on all the USDA Grants! I learned so much from my experience. It sounds like you’ve learned invaluable things as well. I know we are better people for it, despite the trauma and scars. I hope you never lose the creativity, drive and passion that started your business. Instead, maybe you’ll channel it towards new and exciting endeavors that continue to fill your heart and change the world. Let’s do this! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Steve, we are both so lucky in that we might have lost businesses, but we did not lose the beliefs that guided us to and through the experience of building them. I am grateful for the wisdom I gained from hardship, the most difficult being the importance of caring for myself as much as the greater missions I choose to support. I hope to never stop being the type of person who "gives it my all", but we can't make a difference if we ruin ourselves in the process. Onward and upward. Let's do this indeed!
I can relate to so much of this, including the timeline and multiple hits to the business. Most importantly the feeling that you can’t give up because so much is on the line. We launched a new product in 2019 that we put significant investment in, including selling our house. We took most of the money the government would give us during the pandemic, but the business just hasn’t been able to overcome the debt. We’re still pushing forward but mostly because we don’t know what else to do. My husband and I own the business together and there isn’t any home to take, but we can’t imagine what bankruptcy would look like because of those personal guarantees or who the hell would hire us after close to 15 years of working for ourselves. And yet every time I talk to a fellow entrepreneur who would most likely understand I answer the inevitable question “How are things going?” With “We’re still here.” As though that’s a positive thing.
This is required reading for all aspiring entrepreneurs. Really, why is entrepeneurship so fetishized?! So much of small business ownership is that feeling of "I must go on" with the unbelievable financial pressures and moral obligations... it can be suffocating. Thanks for sharing it all.
Thanks Lauren, that is certainly my goal in sharing. I hope that entrepreneurs at an earlier point in their journey might reconsider what has become a standard path knowing of the hardship I experienced - at least when it comes to assuming so much personal liability (financially and emotionally) on behalf of a business. This should not be the norm.
What a great piece! Thank you for sharing. If it were not taboo to speak frankly on all things start-up/small business, or if there were better guides to scaling a capital-intensive food business, it would be so helpful.
I am sure it might never feel this way to you, but I view you as successful. You took a swing for the fences. You did it! I so admire that and admire you.
Thank you for sharing such a personal account of your business experience!
Heather, again our worlds collide, but this time with similarities I would not have wished upon anyone. There are so many lines in this article that I could have written but didn’t dare to. Congrats on the courage to be honest and heartfelt about the risks and failures of small business ownership. Electric City Butcher and Primal Supply have much the same story--although, kuddos on all the USDA Grants! I learned so much from my experience. It sounds like you’ve learned invaluable things as well. I know we are better people for it, despite the trauma and scars. I hope you never lose the creativity, drive and passion that started your business. Instead, maybe you’ll channel it towards new and exciting endeavors that continue to fill your heart and change the world. Let’s do this! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Steve, we are both so lucky in that we might have lost businesses, but we did not lose the beliefs that guided us to and through the experience of building them. I am grateful for the wisdom I gained from hardship, the most difficult being the importance of caring for myself as much as the greater missions I choose to support. I hope to never stop being the type of person who "gives it my all", but we can't make a difference if we ruin ourselves in the process. Onward and upward. Let's do this indeed!