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00:00:00:02 - 00:00:29:12
Unknown
Imagine starting a business and pouring your entire heart into it. And then watching you fail. And now imagine doing that not once, not twice, but more than ten times. Look, you guys, most people show you the highlight reel of their successes. But today, I'm showing you the bloopers. The ten plus. I think it's close to 14 businesses that I started, why they didn't work, and what it took to finally get to the three that actually worked.

00:00:29:18 - 00:00:50:24
Unknown
Got my coffee here. So it's story time. So at 25, I left a consulting job that probably a lot of people would have killed for thinking that I was ready to take on the world. I mean, I've been promoted several times in the only four short years. And I thought that if I was so good at what I was doing, I could probably do anything.

00:00:50:26 - 00:01:15:16
Unknown
What followed was a string of businesses that didn't really go the way I planned. But here's the thing. Failure is only failure if you stop trying. So today I'm going to show you how every step brought me closer to success, actually. All right, so grab your cup of tea or coffee and let me walk you through the businesses that I started, what went wrong and what I learned along the way.

00:01:15:19 - 00:01:41:22
Unknown
So first off, I went on to start this consulting company for EU funds many, many years ago, as I left my corporate consulting job, I did that to start this consulting company for EU funds in Romania, which is my mother country. That's where I was born and I thought, I know how to sell. I was one of the best sellers in our consulting firm, so I can learn the rest and I can do it.

00:01:41:23 - 00:02:06:03
Unknown
And I did, technically. But here's the reality. Although I could learn them, let's say, technicalities and rules, understanding how something works isn't enough to drive business, because what I realized a few months in is that I didn't really understand the local markets expectations, and clients didn't just want my expertise, they wanted this very specific way of working that I had not anticipated.

00:02:06:03 - 00:02:29:25
Unknown
I had not thought of, and that was a mismatch with my values. So that was a good enough reason to see my first business sink. However, the positive is that for this business, my then boyfriend, now husband and I, we went on to build our first website. We learned how to drive traffic, which is a skill that we use to this day.

00:02:30:00 - 00:02:54:29
Unknown
Now, after doing that business, my husband and I, we started a SaaS company because we thought, okay, we need to do something that we know inside out. And the best way to do that then was to combine our expertise. Right? So we created a SaaS product that was offering tax consulting. I mean, it was doing best of both worlds, right?

00:02:54:29 - 00:03:16:03
Unknown
My husband had spent lot of years in IT and technology, and I had spent all those years in consulting. So nine months later, we worked on that baby day and night. Right? Not only did I have to bring back my coding skills and brush up on them, because I had studied that a long time ago, but I had not used coding in years.

00:03:16:03 - 00:03:33:20
Unknown
But I also learned how to bootstrap a business. We had to work with developers and testers because obviously the workload was way too much for the two of us, so we had to consider bringing in more people to support given the time pressure. And, I can tell you the whole story and other time, if you guys want, just let me know in the comments down below.

00:03:33:22 - 00:03:58:19
Unknown
Okay, so what happened to that business? Essentially, it worked really well for the first couple of years. We had tons of interest, but actually only a few sales. And if you're wondering why, well, it's because there were probably three main problems. First, the Romanian market was not ready for that tech. Secondly, I think it's the lack of funding at the end of the day because we were bootstrapping.

00:03:58:19 - 00:04:18:04
Unknown
But by the time we ran out of cash, we weren't able to raise any funds because, again, the Romanian market was not ready to invest in something like this. And the whole VC private equity environment in that market was not where it is today, I guess. And, probably the third and maybe biggest problem is that we priced it wrong.

00:04:18:08 - 00:04:39:10
Unknown
Back then, all software solutions were being priced per license and we went ahead with the same model, not understanding the customer behavior. And by the time we understood that and we adjusted the pricing to be per usage, it was way too late and we had run out of cash. So I guess for this one, my main lesson there was that timing and execution matter just as much as the idea itself.

00:04:39:15 - 00:05:08:02
Unknown
However, the positive is that this experience alone, I believe, played a significant role in getting me or me being able to get into the MBA program that I later on was accepted in as well as getting me a very nice scholarship to be able to fund said MBA program. Okay, so what did we do after this experience? Well, after that I went back into consulting, but this time more as a freelancer.

00:05:08:02 - 00:05:37:25
Unknown
I mean, I call it freelancing, but it's not really. It was more of a one person consulting firm with me and this junior associate who was helping me. So this is where I learned a big lesson, which I think is one of the big mistakes that many new entrepreneurs, or many of the people who transition from the corporate space to entrepreneurship, usually make just because you're good at something doesn't necessarily mean that you automatically run a good business in that field.

00:05:38:00 - 00:06:05:13
Unknown
Because I had no systems, I had no strategy, I had no scalability. And later on, I actually ended up going into more of an entrepreneur position. That's another crazy story. So if you want, I can expand on that as well in another video. So let me know in the comments if that's something you're interested in. Because I think being an entrepreneur, was one of the most fun, and, highly, educational experiences I've been through.

00:06:05:18 - 00:06:26:17
Unknown
Okay, so we're on to business. Number four. I think that's when we started dropshipping, and this seemed like a very straightforward business idea and business model. I mean, it was not so convoluted as selling sauce. And also it relied a lot on operations management, which I'm naturally really good at. So I thought, okay, this sounds like a no brainer.

00:06:26:23 - 00:06:50:16
Unknown
So I spent months taking the product using tools, using data analysis to decide which niche to go into. I read tons of blogs. I watched probably every single dropshipping video that there was here on YouTube back then. There weren't that many, by the way. And in the end, we went for this. We went for a phone charger.

00:06:50:18 - 00:07:13:29
Unknown
I mean, thinking that this was probably 12 years ago, maybe 11. This was quite revolutionary, guys. Okay. And we spent a lot of time thinking about how to do it. And the idea was that you could use this and use your phone while you're charging it. So that's why we called it elevate. And the brand was called sketch.

00:07:14:01 - 00:07:42:23
Unknown
We had a designer designed this beautiful logo because Canva was not around back then. I was actually really happy with what we picked. We found a really nice supplier who made this and who sent us the sample. And I thought, okay, this would be an easy way to scale, right? Until our supplier stole the product idea and launched a replica, which, instead of being called sketch, was being called psychotic.

00:07:42:25 - 00:08:05:17
Unknown
Yeah, and that happened before we even got started. So sometimes the risk isn't the market, it's the partners that you choose. And unfortunately, I learned that the hard way. Now on to business number five and six together. Because this one was a Facebook group and a blog focused both on working from home for moms, and both of them were called office in the bed.

00:08:05:21 - 00:08:27:20
Unknown
They were great in the sense that there were a lot of people who joined the group and who read my blog, but I didn't know a lot about monetizing blog posts or blogs back then. And also, there wasn't a lot of engagement on the Facebook group, and I didn't know how to truly run that community. However, what I did learn is how to run effective Facebook ads.

00:08:27:23 - 00:08:51:15
Unknown
So definitely lots and lots of learnings. But if I were to do this again, I would do it very differently and I would drive engagement in that community in a very different way. Now, business number six and seven together, that is career coaching and YouTube. So essentially back in 2016, I started career coaching, which I absolutely loved.

00:08:51:20 - 00:09:11:17
Unknown
It had happened, at that point that a lot of people in the company that I was working at, were coming to me for career advice because I was always getting promoted and I was always getting recognition. And, either they also wanted the same results, or their managers would send them to me to coach them, for them to be able to get the same outcomes.

00:09:11:17 - 00:09:33:28
Unknown
And while I absolutely loved doing that, and I thrived on seeing the people that I was coaching, getting results, it had come to a point where I was spending a lot of time doing that, and I was not able to scale because time was my limitation. And that's when I actually stumbled upon YouTube. I mean, I was familiar with YouTube, but I had never thought about using it myself, if that makes sense.

00:09:34:04 - 00:10:11:16
Unknown
So essentially, what started more as an experiment? I guess it very quickly became the foundation for everything that I now do. So courses, digital products, the ebooks, affiliate marketing, and now even helping others grow their channels. So it wasn't easy from the beginning. Don't get me wrong, I can probably tell you the whole story of how I ended up growing this YouTube channel in a separate video, but I guess the bottom line is that I felt like I had finally found the right platform, essentially a place where all of my lessons, all of my failures could come together and work in harmony.

00:10:11:16 - 00:10:33:23
Unknown
Or at least I thought is, if you watched my previous video, you know that I still have some regrets about it. Let's call it that now. For the past few years, YouTube has been a key focus for me, especially helping others put themselves out there and bring their voice to the world and help democratize access to, I believe, true education now.

00:10:33:23 - 00:10:56:16
Unknown
Since then, I tried another half dozen business. It's probably I tried notion templates on Etsy. I had sold quite a few, but keeping up with all the issues that people had in terms of installing the template and streamlining, that was not very easy. So I sort of dropped that. I tried print on demand. I think I actually did that with you guys.

00:10:56:16 - 00:11:17:22
Unknown
If you've been with me for a while. I tried selling my art. I tried opening, Shopify store, selling kids toys made out of wood. I probably tried a few more, but I can't recall them now. And most recently, my husband, who spent the last 20 years in technology. He found his passion for AI agents and business automation.

00:11:17:22 - 00:11:38:09
Unknown
So again, this is a key topic for us now. And if you guys are interested, I'm happy to tell you a bit more about what we're doing there and how that is evolving. But if you look at it, we had to fail loads of times to find success. So why is failure so important? I do have quite a few insights that I'd love to share, and I think it's really, really key that you guys pay attention to this.

00:11:38:15 - 00:12:02:00
Unknown
Maybe grab a pen and take some notes because it's super valuable. What I feel would help you shift your perspective over failure. I think the challenge comes from the fact that most people think of failure as this big, scary monster to avoid at all costs, right? But I think failure is not only a part of the process, it is the process.

00:12:02:02 - 00:12:22:19
Unknown
Right? And I've learned the hard way, as you've seen, and I think the best way that I can explain this is with Mario, because my son recently has been playing a lot of Mario, and that got me thinking because I truly see failure, like playing Mario, because when you whatever character you pick, when your character falls into a hole, you don't quit.

00:12:22:21 - 00:12:43:06
Unknown
You learn. You know that there's a hole there, you adapt, and then you try again, right? I've never heard of anyone who only tried playing Mario or Mario Kart or whatever once everybody goes and tries again, right? So why not do that with things that are much more important than a game? Because as you can see, every single failure taught me something new.

00:12:43:06 - 00:13:05:14
Unknown
And it turns out that there is actual science behind why failure is so powerful. So let me break it down for you. And I really want to start with something that I personally find really cool. And I know I'm a bit of a nerd, but bear with me that is related to your brain, because researchers at Stanford found that every single time you make a mistake, your brain fires up.

00:13:05:14 - 00:13:24:26
Unknown
It lights up, and it creates new neural pathways, which basically means that your brain is learning how to adapt and improve in real time. It's great. It's like workout for your brain, right? And you can think of it like leveling up in a video game. Every time you hit an obstacle, your brain is figuring out how to beat the level the next time.

00:13:24:26 - 00:13:41:27
Unknown
And the more you fail, the faster you learn, and the faster you're going to beat the level. Does that make sense? Now, on top of this, here's something that I personally didn't expect. But as we were doing the research for this video, I found that fear actually makes you more creative. And it makes sense if you think about it.

00:13:41:28 - 00:14:03:00
Unknown
Because also, if you look at my example when I ran out of cash for my SaaS business, I had to rethink everything from pricing to pitching to finding funding. And that's not just me being scrappy. It's science. I mean, there is a study in Nature Communications that found that when people face repeated failure, they are forced to explore unconventional strategies.

00:14:03:00 - 00:14:26:13
Unknown
So basically, thinking outside of the box is what only comes out of facing challenges and struggles and failing. Think of Thomas Edison, right? He failed 10,000 times before he invented the light bulb. I mean, if it weren't for him, it could probably work for us too. Right now, this next piece is coming from a book that I absolutely loved, that I've read many, many years ago.

00:14:26:13 - 00:14:49:02
Unknown
And I'm sure many of you have heard about it. And honestly, I think this is the tough love part. Failure builds grit. And now I'm referring to the book called grit, written by Angela Duckworth. Right? She literally wrote the book on it, and she found that perseverance through failure is a better predictor of success, more than talent, more than IQ or anything else.

00:14:49:02 - 00:15:14:13
Unknown
So every time you dust yourself off and try again, you're actually becoming stronger. A grittier version of yourself, if you will. Okay, so I like this metaphor of exercise or you thinking about it like this because it is literally like a workout for your willpower. I know it sucks in the moment to dust yourself off. I've done it plenty of times as you've seen it, but the results are worth it, I believe because there is no success without failure.

00:15:14:13 - 00:15:36:28
Unknown
You have to go through it to learn and adapt and change and find the right way. Now I want to talk about fear because failure teaches you something incredible. It teaches us that it's survivable. It's figure out, like Murray Williams is right, and a study in psychological science showed that people who fail early in life or less afraid to take risks later on.

00:15:36:28 - 00:15:57:11
Unknown
And you need that confidence if you do want to be an entrepreneur because they've been through it, right. The people who are now more comfortable feeling and willing to take risks, and you will need that as an entrepreneur yourself. So you need to be able to trust yourself as you do it or as you make a decision. It's like realizing the boogeyman under your bed isn't real, right?

00:15:57:11 - 00:16:19:18
Unknown
Once you see the failure won't ruin you, it stops holding you back. So look, failure is not something that you tolerate in my opinion. It's something to embrace. It's something to welcome. In fact, it could be something to celebrate because it rewires your brain. It makes you more creative. It builds grit and it reduces fear. Now the question isn't how do I avoid figures?

00:16:19:18 - 00:16:38:01
Unknown
In my opinion, the question should be how do I use it to grow? And that's what I want to help you figure out. Today I started thinking about this when I heard Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx, talking about celebrating failure. I remember she was telling the story about her dad asking her and her brother every single day, what did you feel at today?

00:16:38:01 - 00:16:54:22
Unknown
And I thought, that's a very odd question in the beginning. But then I realized that the reason he was asking is because failing meant they were trying something new. And most of the time people fail when they try something new. But that's okay. That's where the learning comes from. As you've seen, failure is only the end. If you let it be.

00:16:54:22 - 00:17:16:19
Unknown
It's only the end when you stop trying. So I wanted to share with you a simple framework that you can use to turn those moments when you feel like feeling into your greatest advantage. So step number one we only have four steps today okay. So step number one has to do with reframing, right? The way you look at failure I think that's super, super important.

00:17:16:19 - 00:17:36:01
Unknown
You guys when you change the way you look at failure your entire life is going to change. Because instead of seeing it as a dead end, you should look at it as feedback most of the time three feet. So every failure, all it is, is a clue. It's telling you what didn't work so you can figure out what will.

00:17:36:01 - 00:18:02:02
Unknown
So I want to give you a few actionable steps because whenever you're, you know, facing a setback, you should be asking yourself what went wrong. And then follow up that with what did I learn and what can I try next time? Okay, most people stop when they think what went wrong, but you should use that learning. You should use that experience, that free feedback to try something else the next time.

00:18:02:06 - 00:18:23:03
Unknown
That's all it is now. Step number two. I think it's something that took me a little while to understand, okay. And that is related to refining your approach by starting small. I can maybe tell you another time the whole story about how I quit my job, when I was 25, 26 to do this and to worship thing.

00:18:23:04 - 00:18:42:25
Unknown
I think one of the biggest learnings after that whole experience was not to risk everything up front and be able to test your ideas on a smaller scale to figure out what works before you're putting everything behind that idea. So my actionable step for you here is to always ask yourself, what's the simplest version of this idea that I can test today?

00:18:42:28 - 00:19:04:25
Unknown
Right? You don't have to build a full blown course. You don't have to make 100 videos for YouTube. You can start small and gather feedback early and use that to refine your idea. Trust me, it'll make your life a thousand times better if you do this. Step number three is related to the book that I referred earlier and this is resilience.

00:19:04:25 - 00:19:26:11
Unknown
You want to treat failure like leveling up in a video game. Every time you fail, all you're doing is you're getting closer to building the level. The key is really to keep showing up and to try again. I know Tony Robbins, somebody that I absolutely love and adore, and he's one of my, most significant mentors in the last ten, 15 years.

00:19:26:15 - 00:19:52:26
Unknown
He always says, what do you do when you fail? You try something else. It's that easy. It's one of the things that I taught my son when he was really, really little and he was getting upset for failing at really small things. That's okay. You just need to try something else, that's all. So one thing that you could consider doing is to create, you can call it a failure journal, or you could call it a growth journal or a learning's journal.

00:19:52:26 - 00:20:09:15
Unknown
But the idea is that you write down what went wrong, what you learned, and what you would do differently next time. Remember, you should not stop after the first question, okay? And you can also set short term goals that will help you build momentum and it'll help you celebrate those small wins. I'll come back to this one. Okay.

00:20:09:16 - 00:20:34:24
Unknown
Because number four is about reward. It's about celebrating those small wins because otherwise we get stuck thinking that we keep failing, that we always fail because our brain is designed to distort and generalize and delete. So if we only focus on the failure then we don't see the wins. So there is a need in your final step in this framework to learn to reward yourself for progress, not just for the big milestones.

00:20:34:24 - 00:20:54:10
Unknown
I know a lot of people said big goals, and they expect to only celebrate and be happy when they achieve those big goals, but the small wins along the way make the biggest difference. Celebrating these moments keeps you motivated and it reminds you how far you've come. Believe me. I mean, I could only look at all the failures over the last 15 years, probably more.

00:20:54:10 - 00:21:14:04
Unknown
But the truth is that I've learned so much and I've achieved so much, and I had so many success moments that I can't even think about the failure as much. I only think about it because I intentionally want to recall it. Otherwise. I look at everything that has happened with a sense of gratitude. Honestly, because I would not be here had I not gone through all of that.

00:21:14:04 - 00:21:35:02
Unknown
So maybe in your growth journal or however you want to call it, you should also ask yourself every day, what did I achieve and how will I celebrate it? And you can keep a wins board where you record your progress. If you want something that you can look at every day. I don't know whether it's landing your first client or completing a tough task or something new that you learned.

00:21:35:02 - 00:21:53:16
Unknown
I don't know, it can be as little as that, but it's so important for you to celebrate small things, and you can do it in any way that you want. You can go get yourself a cup of coffee, or you can go for a walk or just say, good job. Me? You know, it doesn't have to be complicated, but it makes you feel so much better about yourself.

00:21:53:20 - 00:22:11:06
Unknown
All right, you guys, there you have it. The four hours framework. Reframe, refine, resilience and reward. Use this to turn every failure into a stepping stone for your success. I think you will be so much better off if you do apply this. It took me years to really figure this out, and I really want to give it to you guys as a gift.

00:22:11:07 - 00:22:31:08
Unknown
Now I want to hear from you. What is one failure that taught you a valuable lesson? Or on the flip side, what's something that you have been terrified, you've been scared to try because you might fail, but hopefully now after watching this video, you understand that the worst thing you can do is do nothing. If you do try and fail, at least you have the learning.

00:22:31:08 - 00:22:46:29
Unknown
At least you know one way that that thing doesn't work. But you can try another way and it might. Now remember the only real failure is giving up. So don't stop trying. Like this video. If you did, be sure to subscribe. If you haven't done so and share this with anyone in your life who you think could benefit from it.

00:22:47:06 - 00:22:59:18
Unknown
Thank you so, so much for giving me your time and attention. I'm so grateful every single time you choose to watch one of my videos, I truly hope that they help you. I truly hope that you find them valuable and I hope to see you here next time I.