Ryan Glasgow is a regular at the YoungEntrepreneur forums and has certainly, for his age, experienced a lot as an entrepreneur.
He recently decided to close down his business and had this to say (taken from his full entry, Closing of PureFiveAudio):
The learning is one of the greatest gifts I have received from running this business. Not only do I now know how to register a business, file appropriate paperwork, track financials, remain honest and ethical as a businessman, handle customer situations, and everything else in-between. My father said it was “part of my education†and sees entrepreneurship for me as that of a business class, or a learning session. Walking away with what I have learned and discovered among business has been a blessing and this experience will truly benefit my future.
This is what I am talking about. There is no real failure in entrepreneurship if you put energy into your endeavours. I have confidence in and respect for someone like Ryan because you don’t walk away from shutting down a business without gaining a lot of insight and knowledge. He has walked the path, been there and done that, and can now continue on with more business projects with the confidence and familiarity that only comes from experience. Even if Ryan decides now to pursue a normal day job career his real world experience counts for so much more than someone with only book smarts. It’s win-win no matter what way you look at it. Sure he may have lost money but if you always weigh life purely in monetary values you are never going to be satisfied.
Kudos to you Ryan and keep blogging.
Thanks! You said it well too