8 very bad ideas we had so far

8 very bad ideas we had so far

Posted by Brice Salmon on

(and how we managed to stay mentally balanced, despite it all )


Hi everyone!

In our infinite quest of pursuing transparency and happiness, we've decided to share with you a couple of bad ideas we had so far. Why the bad ones? Well:

  • They arise a very large panel of emotions and as human beings, it feels good to share hard moments
  • We learn - the hard way - a lot more from them than from good shots
  • They may be funny sometimes (and good ones may be boring)

CHAPTER ONE

Bad money-related ideas

Using our cash flow to buy equipment. That one hurts. We didn't know what credit margins and loans were. We used to buy everything cash and wondering why we couldn't afford to make more new products. Problem solved!


Paying too much for workshop rent. We had the chance to find a fantastic deal last Spring thanks to the famous illustrator Isabelle Arsenault who was looking for co-workers. We now have twice the space for half the price in a better area!! Unicorns exist somehow.

Not putting enough money aside for taxes. Surprise! It's Spring again!

"In this world, nothing can be said to be certain,
except death and taxes." — Benjamin Franklin

CHAPTER TWO

The Cerberus syndrome

Making sales and receipts by hand. Yes, by hand, Excel and everything. If you really don't care about having a social life, just do your business accounting with Excel. We kinda lost our friends but they understand. Problem solved :)

Trying too many things at the same time. At the very beginning, we wanted to do cream puffs. For real. Then, we built a pasta machine, we designed wooden domino games, a linen collection... all at the same time. That is over, now we focus. Problem solved.

CHAPTER THREE

Timing is key

Hiring the right people but at the wrong moment. "If we could turn back time" today, we would be with them working hard, hanging out, maybe at the ice cream truck who knows? Instead, we're in Montreal and lucky to be here after all.

Not having a plan. Last year, my physiotherapist taught me that the worst plan is definitely to not have a plan. He's so right that I found myself injured running without a plan. Today, with a clear project and consistency, I'm about to run a marathon, which was absolutely unthinkable 6 months ago. It's the same for the job: openness, consistency, gratefulness and a plan are now part of our fundamentals to achieve our goals.

 

Special mention goes to

Participating in events (like markets) without even knowing them. We did that (deep shame emoticon face). It's been very fun and somehow inspirational though.

 

Ok, now you can stop laughing or crying, let's say they were all "experiments" :) What are your biggest mistakes so far this year and how did you overcome them? We'd love to hear your stories!!

bad ideas entrepreneurship equipment erreur mistakes money takeaway

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