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Do. Fail. Learn. Repeat.: The Truth Behind Building Businesses

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Are you bored and baffled by spin doctors telling you how to succeed, how to make $1 000 000 or how to build the best business in just 30 days? Everyone claims to have the next best short cut or hack to help you along the path of entrepreneurship. It's all bullshit.
In his business autobiography Do. Fail. Learn. Repeat. Nicholas Haralambous discusses the truth about the last 15 years of his entrepreneurial journey.
ANYONE CAN START SOMETHING.
Nic openly discusses his failures and sacrifices over the past decade and a half spent building businesses. There is advice all over the place about the rules to follow if you want to succeed, the do's and don'ts of running a company, the how-to of how-to do this, that or the next thing. There are also many personalities out there telling young entrepreneurs to hustle non-stop, risk everything and never sleep if they want success.
YOUR CHANCE OF FAILURE IS ALMOST GUARANTEED.
No one talks about how hard it is, how lonely it is and how difficult it is to build a business. No one is willing to forgo their ego and be honest. If nothing else, Nic Haralambous is honest about his journey.
MOST PEOPLE WON'T LEARN.
Nic has lived the hustle; he has pushed through physical pain, mental suffering, business failures, personal torment and relationship strife all in the name of building businesses.
ALMOST NO ONE DOES IT AGAIN.
Nic decided to write a big book of his failures so that entrepreneurs around the world can begin to understand that it is not always glamorous, easy or fun to build a business.
If entrepreneurship is calling you then you absolutely cannot miss out on the truth, behind the business, written by Nic Haralambous.

259 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 25, 2018

8 people are currently reading
89 people want to read

About the author

Nic Haralambous

4 books32 followers
I am an entrepreneur, global keynote speaker and author.

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5 stars
29 (53%)
4 stars
17 (31%)
3 stars
5 (9%)
2 stars
2 (3%)
1 star
1 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Sam Beckbessinger.
Author 16 books93 followers
July 16, 2018
I read the entire book in one sitting. This is not your standard "10 TIPS FOR MAKING MILLIONS TODAY" bullshit business book. It's a compelling, brutally honest story about what entrepreneurship really looks like from the inside. Nic talks about losing friends, destroying his health, and making mistakes. I found it a profound meditation on why we are driven to do what we do, and why finding joy in starting a business is a different journey to chasing success.
Profile Image for Dan Goldberg.
1 review2 followers
July 2, 2018
This book is the most refreshingly honest account of one's journey through entrepreneurship. I can't remember the last time I read a business book that resonated with me so deeply and that managed to so succinctly distil such wisdom on entrepreneurship and life. A must read!
1 review2 followers
August 4, 2018
An epic read! An impressive and inspiring journey told with remarkable honesty. Nic has packed a lot of living into a short space of time. He is definitely not a spectator in life!

I have a feeling that a mighty tome will be needed to tell his story by the time he is through.
Profile Image for Adii Pienaar.
68 reviews30 followers
June 26, 2018
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Nic’s experiences and hearing him tell his stories in a direct and candid manner. Nic’s lessons learnt going from one business to the next (some which has been resounding success) is also super helpful and inspirational.
Profile Image for Philip du Toit.
59 reviews2 followers
July 31, 2018
Was a great read, with a couple of very interesting points and a lot of food for thought.
Profile Image for Mandisa.
7 reviews
September 8, 2018
The low down about what it takes to be an entrepreneur

What an honest account of being an entrepreneur! Loved every minute of it. Definitely showed “the truth behind building businesses”
Profile Image for Murray Slater.
9 reviews
September 3, 2018
Having known Nic way back in the gtown days there was always something about him, something was driving him, something other than booze and woman. 15 years later and I met him on the prom with his dogs and enjoying the amazing distraction dogs offer from what is driving us. Nic writes well and weaves in business and life challenges into his own experience. This guy won't stop and many people after reading this book will have less fear of failure. So in my opinion this book is a success and not one of his failures. I am sure there will be more stories to be shared. Well done old pal. See you on the prom for some distractions.
13 reviews5 followers
August 26, 2018
A good source of sound business advice. Advice that is not Facebook pretty. Nic tells the real truth of what it is like to run a business - stomach ulcers and all. A read that makes you realize that you are not alone if running your business is keeping you awake at night.
1 review
July 8, 2018
Picked up this booking thinking it was just a typical business book but quickly realized it was a lot more than that. Nic shows us his ups and his lows, he gives us his honest advice and he certainly doesn't sugar coat anything. This book is definitely a business book but in many ways it's also a self-help book teaching from his mistakes. Loved it!
Profile Image for Jason Bagley.
108 reviews5 followers
June 26, 2018
Loved all the "war" stories in Nic's book. Some big failures and 2 of the chapters made me feel super depressed myself after reading them, but the lessons learnt are really great. Was an emotional read!

Thoroughly enjoyed the style of writing in this business book. It's a bunch of stories of starting, failing and learning, rather than a self-help business book.
Profile Image for Maja.
170 reviews5 followers
March 13, 2023
An autobiography book of Nicholas Haralambous.
An “I,me,myself” kind of a book.
If you are interested in the life of Nicholas Haralambous, then this book is for you.
But if you are looking for a book that will actually help you overcome a failure in life, then look for another.

I wish the author was focusing more on the way he overcame failures in his life, failures with his startups, what helped him get up and start again. He was just jumping from one startup to another. I started skipping pages at the end and got endlessly bored.

I really don’t like rating books anything below 3 starts but a 4.47 rating for this book (that’s what it is at the time of writing this review) is so overrated. I see some friends of the author are giving this autobiography book a high rating but for me it was below average, I guess I just had high/different expectations due to the title.
Profile Image for bErgUP.
73 reviews
August 11, 2020
Common entrepreneurial pitfalls and how to avoid them with personal anecdotes

A perfect mixture of humorous yet personal anecdotes and practical business advice for the aspiring entrepreneur. Much of the advice seems practical and universal with the exception of the unique economic dynamics and intricacies of African countries such as South Africa. Haralambous often comes across as someone who miraculously always falls upwards no matter how incompetent he is,so please take that into consideration when following his advice. He did however, manage to recruit and retain all these people that successfully managed his businesses,so he isn't that incompetent. It is worth a read if you enjoy learning more or less about the difficulties of starting and successfully maintaining a business which may or may not be beneficial to you.
Profile Image for Bhuti Mbele.
17 reviews
February 19, 2023
Loved it

I left my comfortable salary to start a business in 2017, oh boy what a challenge it has been. One thing that I find out about myself is how resilient I am, I believe God has given me the strength to push through the pandemic, the finance challenges which I still have today but the most important thing, I am still here. We learn from our mistakes and we keep pushing. I always liken my business experience to a game of cricket. At times you get 4s and 6s but at times you go through with dot balls and 1s, I always say as long as I don’t have an LBW, I keep moving. Thank you Nic for this great book.
15 reviews12 followers
December 13, 2019
The thing I really love about this book is that it left me with a trove of gems to look up, research and learn about.

Nic tells honest and engaging stories. Lessons on lessons on lessons. I love it and would recommend any day !
Profile Image for James Ross-Marsh.
10 reviews
March 14, 2025
Awesome story on how hard it can be to build a successful startup. It’s both motivating and sobering at the same time and something I think all entrepreneurially minded people should read!
2 reviews
July 7, 2019
Very interesting and inspiring life story.
The book is easy to read that you can’t believe when it finishes.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews

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