I took the leap to build my own startup. Now I know why so many fail

Photo credit: Pexels.

I am a young entrepreneur (all things considered). I am 27 years old and I left the nine-to-five world only a year ago.

Before that, I was an aspiring entrepreneur. I pursued side projects in my spare time, and worked with people individually (for free) so I could learn and improve. I invested a significant amount of time building my own personal brand, learning how someone builds an audience for themselves on their own.

As a result, I became friends with quite a few entrepreneurs, some of whom were already established. My boss and mentor was a very successful serial entrepreneur. A handful of other mentors were entrepreneurs and business owners as well.

But the majority of my friends were aspiring entrepreneurs, just like me. We all had big dreams, and we were all trying to learn how to make those dreams come true.

Taking the leap

When I finally did take the leap to build my first company, Digital Press, I was beyond scared.

I remember the night before I told my boss and mentor that I’d be leaving his company, I talked to Dushka Zapata on the phone for almost an hour. She pointed out that, all things considered, it wasn’t much of a “leap” at all.

“Are you confident in your abilities?” she asked.

“I mean, I think so,” I said.

“Do you think if everything came crashing down, you could get another job? Maybe even go back to the agency you’re working at?” she said.

“I hope that doesn’t happen, but I probably could,” I replied.

“Then, what’s the risk?”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s just scary.”

“Of course, it’s scary!” she said with so much excitement in her voice.

The next morning

365 days into being a founder