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Why Your Ventures Tend to Fail

The reason that many projects end up going nowhere, and how to change this


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Natasha Piggott

3 years ago | 3 min read

It is the dream for most people to become self-employed and make money from the comfort of their home. The issue is, these ideas and ventures that start out being exciting, often dwindle when they don't immediately succeed.

So why is it that your venture failed? The answer is because most human beings lack one vital quality.

Patience.

Unless you are very lucky, your project will not reach its goal overnight- it takes time and dedication to become successful, and this is where most people fail.

Over the course of the quarantine, I found myself newly graduated and sadly unemployed, and I took it upon myself to earn money from home. I already had a YouTube channel where I posted videos of myself playing the piano, however, I thought if I put more effort into marketing and promoting this channel, I could perhaps monetise from it.

I spent hours learning and arranging new piano pieces and exploring filming and video editing techniques. I really threw myself into what I thought was an exciting prospect.

However, I faced many obstacles, such as needing to gain licences to arrange instrumental covers of songs and the dreaded creative block.

For all the many hours, effort, and money spent on advertising, my channel didn't seem to grow. I found it was becoming a chore to create these videos, and my patience was dwindling.

I realised that the reason I found it hard to accept that I wasn't getting any reward for my efforts, was because I didn't enjoy the effort it took to be successful. Whether you have a passion for art or are devoted to a certain cause such as helping others- you need that passion as motivation in order to keep going.

I think there is one important lesson for budding entrepreneurs.

Don’t begin a venture based around something that you do not truly love doing.

When I was at university, a lecturer told me when choosing a dissertation topic, not to pick something that you think looks impressive or that will get you a high mark, but to choose a topic that you are passionate about. If you aren’t passionate about something you will end up getting bored, and you will find it very hard to remain patient.

Passion and enjoyment of something will show through your work, and if you remain patient, and accept that it takes time to be successful, you can achieve your goal.

My father once said to me, that true success means doing something for a living that you would do in your spare time anyway.

I realised, that whilst I love music, playing the piano was never something I was passionate about. I was coerced into learning as a child by my parents, and whilst it has helped me immensely in life, it is not something that I adore. I was never going to be successful doing something that felt arduous.

I have since started writing on Medium, and whilst I have not seen a dramatic financial benefit from it immediately, I enjoy writing and the proud feeling that I get on completion of an article.

The lesson for every person to learn is that you aren’t going to succeed at something that you find a chore. You will lack the patience that is vital to success.

Whilst your hobby may not be something you initially believe can earn a good amount of money, you may be surprised how you can adapt your skill into a project. Because you are working on something you enjoy, you will find it much easier to reach your goals.

Natasha Piggott

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