Ask HN: Should I give up on entrepreneurship?

by biznerd on 3/17/2018, 1:05:09 PM with 5 comments
Since high school I thought I wanted to be an entrepreneur. In HS/college I start websites (ranking in SEO was very easy) and made 30k. I also started a web host and grew it to several hundred clients and sold it for 20k. So I graduated with 50k in the bank. It felt awesome, but looking back things were so easy back then.

The next 10 years have been pretty bad though. I have a huge problem sticking to an idea. Out of the dozen ideas, nothing has stuck. If I started a "niche blog" I'd say I'd probably quit after 3 weeks.

Last year I bought a vending machine route for 35k but got screwed over in the end.

Not all is bad, I bought a rental property which has done very well (big increases in rent too).

Right now the rental property is kinda feeding my entrepreneurial "hunger" - I still go to networking events, do the book keeping, but I don't have enough money to expand...

But of course there is nothing like start/owning a "real" business, RE is more investment management.

So I don't know. I'm kind of getting sick of how entrepreneurship is so glorified in the media etc. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur.

What would you do in my shoes? I've thought about getting a cofounder to compensate for my weaknesses. Also maybe I have to choose the "right" business.

  • by bsvalley on 3/17/2018, 3:16:47 PM

    Wanting to become an entrepreneur is a weak goal in itself. It’s like wanting to own a business or to create a startup.

    A rental property solves a real problem in life. Guess what, you found some success doing it. Try to solve a real problem, maybe you’ll wakeup one day running a huge business. That’s when you’ll tell people how you became a successful entrepreneur. Focus on the problem 1st.

  • by rman666 on 3/17/2018, 1:19:31 PM

    Sounds like you are still young. Take a break for 6 months, then re-evaluate. In the meantime, learn a new skill.

  • by p0d on 3/17/2018, 4:45:54 PM

    I think one of my biggest challenges is focus, sounds like you are the same.

    It also sounds like you are doing ok. So push on and be happy with what you have in the meantime.

    I'm sure I am at the bottom of the successful entrepreneur pile. I'm also sure I'm much more content than many others.

  • by k__ on 3/17/2018, 7:21:39 PM

    To be an entrepreneur you need either luck or creativity (probably both). The last being mostly a mix of openness and intelligence.

    It's a high risk, high reward gamble.

    If you can't stand that, it's probably not for you.

    Some people can't stand the opposite, so it's their only option.

  • by antpick on 3/28/2018, 7:04:15 AM

    I think you can do it well!