Entrepreneur

Be independent of the good opinion of others (especially family).

Now, dust yourself off, catalog all the lessons learned, and push forward. Only this time run low-cost experiments (failures), until you find a probable winner.

Give some other thing a shot. Learn to leverage your learning from failure and get even better. ;⁠)

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
-Teddy Roosevelt

You can't.

Try to not take what they say too seriously. They have (I am guessing) not tried what you have, so don't have perspective on what it took you to strive for success.

Make note of all your lessons learned, and you would never have learned them had you not tried and failed (someone once told me to fail fast, still trying to master that).

Ask them why they said what they said? And let them know the impact it had on you. Not from a "make then wrong" lens, but from a generous curious one. It may give you both insight.

You have tried and learned so much to take with you on your next attempt, congratulations.

By age 35, you are not a failed anything, unless you stop trying to do it. Jebus, 35 you have probably only lost one business! Lol

You are indeed a failure if you just quit and complain on Reddit like it’s going to write your next business plan for you. AI is insane rn. Learn how to code, learn a physical skill that gives you entry to good business at the cost of you developing a skill other than quitting because you care too much about what your family thinks of you.

Freakanomics Podcast host a wonderful 3 part podcast about failing wonderfuly.

Try again and keep going until you succeed.

It does seem you're also as judgemental on yourself as your family.

You're a "failed entrepreneur" because you don't have the guts to stick to it. You've given up not because of the failed ventures but because of your self esteem

Evaluate what you've done. Why it failed? What has failed? And then continue to pivot or change.

Ignore them. Don’t even entertain that idea or give them a reaction or so.

If my family wss that toxic I would seriously consider not hanging out with them.

Is it as fuel to get successful af. You have it in you, of your willing to try what most people see as a crazy idea then you can do it.

Pivot, test new business, whatever you were doing it’s not a failure was just the learning process to the next business.

I hate to say it, but you need to ignore them and not pay any attention to their advice. I went through something similar with my parents. I had to tell them that I love them, but please don't give me advice about things you know nothing about. Humoring them was taking a toll, and I don't have energy for that anymore.

Get a day job for a while, reflect on lessons learned, and think about how you can scale back your idea or think of another idea that is scaled down enough that you can get it going in your spare time.

everyone fail not just u , dont give up

First off, remember that your worth isn't tethered to business success or failure. It's downright arduous to handle criticism from the fam, especially when you're grappling with your own sense of disappointment. I've skirted around similar scenarios, and I can share a piece of advice: Keep your chin up and crack on.

set your focus on analysis and learning. Dissect what went pear-shaped with your venture. What lessons can you cart from this? Those lessons are your wealth now, and they're stepping stones for your next sortie in the entrepreneurial fray. Don't forget, heaps of renowned entrepreneurs had a rough go of it before they struck it flush.

At 35, you're not adrift on the entrepreneurial tides. Redirect that energy. Keep fanning the flames of your ambitions, and who knows? Maybe your next undertaking might just be the one that's gangbusters.

Stop saying that. You failed, but you are not a failure. Shit happens and we all have failed at something.

Ever see the movie Highlander? One of my favorite movie lines of all time fits your scenario:

It is better to burn out, than to fade away.

In other words, I would rather try and fail than to never try.

If they have constructive thoughts to help you succeed after your last time failure? Then take it, absorb it and make sure you do not commit the same mistakes.

If they are mocking you and humiliating you, then f*** them. Don't give a shit to what they say! Work 10 times harder and make your next venture successful. All the very best!

It won’t matter if your successful with 1M+ or not your distant or close family will judge cause they’re boomers and or NPC.

Why are you a failure? Did you learn anything along the way? I’m sure you did and I’m sure you’ll continue to learn and grow. Life’s a journey my friend, not a destination to arrive at

How do they define failure? The true failure is for someone never being brave enough to try.

don’t change ur goal brotha, change ur approach. Those people have u a reciept that they don’t believe in you, now u have motivation to prove them wrong.

Don't feel humiliated. It's ok to fail. Just don't give up. Listen to people who genuinely care about your business. Be strong 💪🏻

What was the dialogue again .... Bees don't waste their time explaining to flies that honey is better than shit!

Having said that, the knowledge, experience, stress management and patience you gain from owning a business is NOT WASTED on you, and I sincerely hope you can start again.

We support you, friend!

I am 58. I am finally on the cusp of success. It's been a ride, and it's been a bit rough, and it's been quite discouraging at times. I've retooled/refocused my company 3 times. But Q3 of 2023 changed the game and I'm poised to have a monster year in revenue, profit, and overall growth in 2024 and we don't see this trend slowing down anytime soon. Most people at age 35 can't even consider themselves "seasoned" yet. Most of your adult life is ahead of you, not behind you. You're just now "getting ready to get serious". ;) Keep going forward. That's all you can do. Keep going forward.

why does your family know that you are an entrepreneur and that you failed?

family: what do you do for a living?

you: I'm minding my own business

can't it be that simple?

Fuck em. You tried to build something from nothing which is something many talk about but ever have the balls/ovaries to ever attempt and you tried it in one of the most brutal world economies in the last century.

They're opinion of what work is or your business, is just that, an opinion. And it's worth exactly as much as the value you assign to it, in other words it could be worthless.

You have nothing to prove, nothing to defend and nothing to feel embarrassed about.

My advice? Crack a joke about how your next business will be selling their hopes and dreams to other people since they're never going to use them and crack the fuck on.

Your only failed if you stop. Lessons are transferable to what’s next.

Take a breather, see clearly, and proceed on what you think your next step is.

As for family they wouldn’t probably take the same risks so you taking risks can be scary to them.

Hey man, Jack Ma started Alibaba at 35. stop giving up in life.

Succeed at 36

For God's sake don't live life just because u have to answer your family. Take your responsibility, earn either way by job or by business. Take care of your finances on your own, you are not a kid . Hard times come and go , let it go and manage yourself. Good luck.

Your family probably don't understand the concept of what you were trying to do therefore don't regard it as real work.

Although to be honest, it doesn't seem that you were actually working. Were you providing a service in a viable industry, or were you chasing some bullshit concept, while using the title entrepreneur to justify being unemployed?

A true entrepreneur would work at least part time before the idea gets off the ground. Also, surely if you are an entrepreneur you have other ideas in the can to pursue?

IMO your family have a right to be critical - you are 35 after all

Fuck your parents. Most of us would choose differently if we could. Focus on the courage you had to go on your own. Look forward. Most people would love to have your guts. Keep your head high. Cuz why? Even if you succeeded your family still wouldnt give a damn. Who cares. Do you.

You get a career in something and show them you’re dedicated and don’t quit your full time job again unless you are making equivalent income, it’s clear you haven’t figured it out and probably need to study successful businesses more.

hahaha u dont.

u gotta eat that humiliation every day, every minute every second. thats part of that failure experience

Are YOU a failed entrepreneur, or did your business fail?

Be thoughtful about how you answer this question because one describes a circumstance (that's common to all successful entrepreneurs I know, by the way) and the other describes a personal identity.

Now let's talk about how you handle "humiliation?"

First, recognize that YOU get to decide if you're humiliated, not them. To me (and pretty much every entrepreneur I've ever met), a failed business is no more humiliating in the entrepreneurship game than a strikeout is in baseball. It sucks, but it's a part of the game and pros understand that.

If you identify as a "failed entrepreneur," then yes, I suppose this is humiliating.

If, however, you identify as an entrepreneur whose business failed, then this is merely a right of passage on your journey. It's a stumble, not a loss of life.

But, again, this starts with YOU deciding who YOU are.

Once you have decided how YOU are going to define yourself, you can move on to your family.

First, I'm sorry they aren't supporting you. That sucks. Entrepreneurship is hard enough on its own and trying to build a business without the support of the people closest to you is playing the entrepreneurial game on "Expert Mode. I'm not saying you should blame them and I'm definitely not suggesting they caused the failure, but try not to take too much stock in the opinions of those who weren't in the arena with you.

Second, I'm sure your family loves you and I'm sure they think they're helping when they discourage you from the entrepreneurial path. After all, it is painful at times and the failure rate is high. But just because they love you and just because they want to protect you, that doesn't mean their opinion is credible and it certainly doesn't mean they're right.

So take their feedback as them showing love in their own, ill-informed way. Thank them for it, and appreciate the place it's coming from, but don't blindly accept it as truth, and definitely don't allow it to humiliate you.

If you do, then maybe they're right. Maybe you're not cut out for this entrepreneurship game after all.

But I don't believe that's the case and I don't believe anyone else who's actually in the arena does, either. :)

It's hard to change their view on Entrepreneurship, especially if they are from a different generation. My family for example took well that I left my job to start a company, but it is a huge tabu in their house to talk about my sexuality (gay).

What I'm tryinig to say is that they do not accept some parts of me (like being gay), but you would never say that being gay is objetively something bad or something be ashamed of.
With entrepreneurship is the same.

On top of that, my first company failed after 3 years. But I learned 10x more than I would've learned in a regular job. In fact, in my new job I'm paid like 3x more than what I was being paid before I started my failed company. A failed business is the best MBA you can take.

5,127 prototypes James knew he was onto something, but it would take time to perfect his idea. Five years and 5,127 prototypes later, he created DC01, the world's first bagless vacuum cleaner.

Dyson is worth 9.3 billion

He said with each failure he learned something.

Keep going .

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Remember, failure is not the end. Surround yourself with supportive people, seek professional help if needed, and focus on your strengths. You have the resilience to overcome this setback. Keep pushing forward.

How to handle? You don't. It matters not the others opinion of you, the only thing that matters is what you think of yourself, and to keep up trying.

If you spend your life too worried about others opinions you won't get shit done.

Get a job niggah

As an entrepreneur, it is VERY normal to attempt multiple times and even pivot the business plan in order to achieve a success. Most importantly, anything that you do along the way is valuable experience that you can apply to your next projects. The road to success is not straight - it is twisty and curvy with a lot of unexpected surprises along the way. Most people are comfortable living their lives working 9-5 and it makes them feel good about themselves to see somebody who is trying to break out of that cycle fail.

I always say, what other people think of me is none of my business. I simply do not care what anyone thinks. I don’t ask. They don’t tell. Also, if someone isn’t with you, doing what you do, or doing the same thing better- they really have no right to an opinion.

Hey op, all the positivity to you 💛

This is a common mindset in a culture where people are terrified of taking risks and take every chance to humiliate the outliers.

I've been through this situation and my advice is to channel your anger towards what you want to accomplish. There were nights when I was woken up remembering the naysayers and ended up working all night. You'll laugh it off when you're on the other side, but until then stay away from such people.