Swinging For Success

On Christmas morning last year I joined the kids outside for some play.  One of the boys got a Wiffle ball from Santa.

I grabbed the bat,  tossed the ball in the air, and swung like world peace depended on my singular effort.

Missed!

The ball tumbled to the ground.  I looked at it like something broke.

That’s the way it is for me in real life.  People often ask me the secret to success in business.  But I don’t know what to tell them.

In the last 2-3 years, I’ve tried a half a dozen biz ideas, including becoming a craft beer distributor, developing a luxury travel service,  and launching an online health care platform.

Nada.

It’s like I’m the oracle for what will NOT work.

Two years ago my wife - who is an attorney - said she wanted to start a home cleaning business.  I frowned and explained how physically taxing the business is, how it doesn’t scale well, and how she should come up with another biz idea.

She decided to do it anyway.  Fast forward to today and her cleaning company employs 50 people, grosses $100K per month, and nets $20K per month.  And they just bought a commercial building with the cash flow!

Now I keep my mouth shut.

Missing the ball is deepening pattern for me. Reminds me of the time decades ago when the engineers at Sony showed me a prototype of the home karaoke machine.

“Pfft.  That thing will never sell.  Who wants to sing at home??  Dumb, dumb, dumb…”  I said.

Good thing no one listened to me back then either.

So now my wife has a new business idea.  She says there are no healthy energy drinks for moms.  Everything on the shelf today is geared for men - nothing for women. But moms are the ones who need it most.

I don’t know what to say.  If I say, “Nah, that won’t fly” will it succeed because I said no??

Or if I say, “Yes! Yes! Yes!” will that jinx it?

If you think it’s a brilliant idea - or even if you don’t - please support her.  I need all the help I can get!