I have several friends whose businesses are struggling right now. I always want to help in these situations because I’ve been there.

When I was fighting for the survival of my business, I had a lot of support – my two partners, my family, my entrepreneurs’ group, and my therapist.

There are two sides to the struggle – emotional and tactical. Being able to work through both with the supportive people in my life is what allowed us to turn around the business.

The struggle is a very personal experience and one that is often private.

We feel shame in failure. One person I talked to last week, a restaurant owner, said it was humiliating.

But to his credit, he did something I wasn’t brave enough to do.

He told his customers.

He posted on Instagram and asked them to come order from his food truck, especially on weekdays when he was the slowest.

He sold out the next day. And the day after that, he sold out in record time.

His wife also created a GoFundMe, which got an outpouring of support, especially from former patrons who now live out of state.

How many restaurants (and other businesses) simply close their doors without giving their customers & community the chance to support them when they need it most?

I talked to him on Thursday and offered my help. We’re going to sit down together, go over the numbers, and create a turn-around plan.

This is the business idea I’ve been thinking about for the past couple of months – helping entrepreneurs go from losing money to profitability.

There are a million ways to make a million dollars, but a guiding star for my next venture has been to pursue something that’s exciting for me. Something that gives me energy. Something that I’d do for free.

And here I am, offering to do this for free for a friend.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Artwork created by Midjourney with the prompt: line at a food truck. outdoor-setting with trees.