A hobby that spiralled into a failed business.

Image Credit: Tara Winstead

I recently recalled an anecdote when talking to a client about failed products and businesses.

On a recent trip to Granada, we met a restaurateur with a passion for medieval furniture. What began as a hobby for building intricate, period-style pieces (physical products) had grown into a full-scale medieval-themed restaurant, funded entirely by his life savings and filled with quirky, custom-built artefacts that cost thousands.

The business, however, had no customers. None. The owner and his wife worked two extra jobs to keep it afloat. Still, he had taken out another bank loan to build an extension, dreaming of the day his daughter would graduate and join the business, serving customers “in medieval garb.”

The problem wasn’t the food or the ambience. It was a string of ill-advised business decisions. The restaurant was hidden down a side alley, had never been advertised, had no online presence, and had opened during COVID. In a city where most tourists stay only two or three days, a boutique restaurant on a residential street simply wasn’t going to be their priority.

Despite the hours of labour that had gone into the business, the absence of marketing, discoverability, commercial viability, and the timing of the launch doomed the venture.

The lesson? Stop. Think. Before you invest time, money, and energy, ask:
- Is there actual demand for this product or feature?
- Will it genuinely improve the user’s experience?
- How long until it delivers a return?
- Are market conditions in your favour?

The physical world sometimes mirrors the digital one: if your product is wrong, and no one knows you exist, you won’t attract customers, no matter how wonderful your offering.