FBC – 386 – How to go broke in less than 30 days

How to go broke in less than 30 days.

Have you decided NOT to start your business because you are afraid of going broke?

There are many ways to fail at business indeed but that shouldn't be enough to stop you.

There are thousands of ways to be successful in business and this is what you should focus on.

In today's episode, I will reveal 2 things:

1 – What you should avoid at any cost! DON'T do this under any circumstance!!!

2 – What you SHOULD do because it worked for me and for countless other successful entrepreneurs.

If you were afraid of losing your shirt in business or go broke, this episode will give you a crucial piece of the puzzle.

By learning what NOT to do, you can greatly increase your chances of success

— Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/freedom-by-choice/support

I wanted to talk to you about a subject that's engraved in my core and I think it should be the way to go. It's just my opinion, so I'm going to voice it here in this episode, but I really suggest people do this.

So just to explain what it is, I'll take you back to when I started. The main business that I have right now, it was in 2013, was seven years ago for this particular business. So it’s been running for seven years.

And at the time I had a business partner, so we basically were sharing a database together and we split the database. But there was another guy that we had to partner with in order to be able to get the database and stuff, because he had the connections that would help us build the system.

And so this guy was very different from me on completely the other end of the spectrum. He was one of those people always talking about, oh, how much money do I have? Look at my watch. Me and my kid are wearing some designer brands. So very, very like money centric and kind of like a shallow guy.

So I was the head of the sales team and the only thing he could talk about was money, money, money, money, money, money, money. That's all he had in mind. And so when we started seven years ago, my buddy and I, we had the same philosophy, but his philosophy was very different.

So his philosophy was, I want money now fast. I want to make it big now. And, what happened is that he tried to go too big, too soon, too quickly. And the next month, that's it. Like the next month the guy was out. So all the benefits of the entire database on the system that we built, the cleaning and stuff, it was done after a month.

OK, just because he was trying to go big, like, go big or go home or something, know, go big or go home is pretty cool in some circumstances. But what I want to talk to you about is playing the long game. Because if you look at the difference between our approaches, within the month the guy with was done. It was back to square one.

How to go broke in less than 30 days.

And for me, it's been more than seven years. Business has been pretty cool and the business is flourishing because I am playing the long game. I'm not playing for the big payday now and stuff. So what does that mean actually, you know, playing the long game?

So I always have my eyes on one thing, which is the continuity of my business, because the longer the business goes on then the easier my life is OK?

And sometimes I have to make business decisions based on that. So if there is an opportunity for me that will put in jeopardy this longevity and it's risky, I won't do it, you know. Very recently I had some people asking me, oh, man, we have this campaign that we want to run. Can you run it for us?

And I'm like, you know, what is it? It can make me a little bit of money right now. But then in the long run, it will be like, what if it blocks my servers? And then after that campaign, that's it. And screw that.

So that's the difference between me and this guy because he was basically taking the crappiest campaigns you can even imagine from people who, you know, had I don't know what kind of brands these were. It was a joke, but they were like, yeah, I'll pay you.

Well, he ran the campaigns. He got blocked. So obviously these people, I think they didn't even make their money back. So they pay the guy. And you end up in a bad situation.

So I learned how to say no to stuff. Sometimes there is some opportunity, but despite the money, despite everything, that's not what I'm after me. I'm after a business that would be here every month. Every month this business runs. It means that my life is really cool because it runs. I don't have to go to the office and commute and all that kind of stuff.

I want to protect this. So I always played along. The long game is my lifestyle.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the fastest way to go broke when starting a business?

Focusing all your attention on the many ways a business can fail instead of the thousands of ways it can succeed. Fear paralyses action and pushes you toward panicked decisions. Martin argues you should study what not to do, then pour your energy into the proven paths that actually build success.

Should fear of going broke stop you from starting a business?

No. There are countless ways to fail, but there are also thousands of ways to succeed, and that is where your focus belongs. Learning what to avoid greatly increases your odds. Martin built a business that ran for seven years by concentrating on what worked rather than on the fear of losing everything.

How does learning what not to do improve your chances of success?

Knowing the common mistakes lets you sidestep them before they cost you money or momentum. Most failures simply repeat the same avoidable errors. By removing those from your path, you protect your capital and your confidence, freeing you to double down on the strategies that genuinely move a business forward.

What did Martin focus on to keep his business running for seven years?

He focused on the proven moves that worked for him and for other successful entrepreneurs rather than chasing every shiny idea. He treated business as a long game, learned from partnerships and shared databases, and avoided the panic decisions that sink most new founders inside their first month of trading.

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

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