Lessons from Closing a Business

From 2007 to 2011, I ran a business that sold clothes, perfumes and all things pretty for women of my age.

But sometime in mid 2011, I had to shut the business down.

There were a few reasons why I decided to shut the business down, but the biggest reason is probably because I want to climb the ladder of success and reach greater heights.

I started my business as an online vendor, selling things on my blog (social media was not that prevalent at the time). I then eventually secured a shopfront the size of a regular home's toilet to sell my stock.

Part of my business's downfall happened when things turned sour with the shopfront. I was rather excited and did as much as I could to help the shop owner, but I suffered the consequence of not having things written in black and white.

Nonetheless, it was a good experience while it lasted but the excess of stock that returned from the shop took me nearly 3 months to clear, and I don't like hogging things. I ran multiple clearance sales on the blog/at flea markets, and when I finally only had 10% of items left, it was time to call it quits.

I still run businesses now. But for that business, the time just wasn't right, and it was only best for me to focus on what was profitable instead of watching the ship sink without saving myself.

This quote came to mind when deciding what to do:

"Pursue excellence, and success will follow, pants down." - Rancho from 3 Idiots (Translated)

Here are some lessons that I have learnt over the years of running said business. Lessons that still hold some meaning until today.

#1 - Know Your Worth

There are a million (many billions to be exact) people who think they know better than you, but there is a reason to why you charge a particular way and work at a particular pace. Find out the market price, weigh your skills/services and charge accordingly.

Do NOT bow down to people who ask you for a 50% discount, well, just because they can. You will end up going through a painful process and might just end up hating your clients. It's better to have 1 customer who understands your worth than to have 5 customers who want discounts and disregard your talent/service.

#2 - Marketing is Key

I don't really have to stress on the importance of this, but marketing yourself is very important. I personally lack social skills, I mean, I'm not really a social butterfly but luck has been on my side when it comes to getting clients.

Know your strength, know your target and head out in search for more clients. I have never been great at this, but I have now realised the importance of name cards, websites and social media networking to promote yourself.

Sometimes we need to spend extra money on things like this and build a good brand and portfolio for ourselves - think of it as a bait to get more clients. It all boils down to word-of-mouth though, if your work is good, people will come to you.

So don't just focus on marketing yourself, be great at what you do and success will follow.

#3 - It's Not Always the Right Time

In the words of Kid Cudi, "Everything that shine ain't always gonna be gold" (from the song Pursuit of Happiness, in case you're wondering).

Occasionally, we have a lot of opportunities coming our way and, in my case, I picked up on each and every one of them thinking that there's no harm in trying. There really isn't, but sometimes we need to plan our moves and think twice before heading out into that direction. It may look like a great opportunity, but if you know for sure that you do not have the time, place, capital to get into it, then don't. Wait.

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It saddens me to think of the closed business, but I am also happy to say that while some doors closed, many others opened.

I'm now a happy freelance content writer and a much more capable entrepreneur.

"Try first to be a man of value; success will follow." - Albert Einstein

www.manishadhalani.com