$400 Million Endeavor Dead On Arrival
Jan 6 2009

My friend, Robb Lanum, sent the following email today:

What if they built a world-class theme park [Hard Rock name behind it] and nobody came? It happened. Myrtle Beach, SC. Seven years and $400 million to build. Opened April 2008, closed forever by September 2008. Park put up for auction with starting bid of $35 million in December, auction drew ZERO bids. They made $19.7 million in ticket sales.

Article yesterday:

http://themeparks.about.com/b/2009/01/05/hard-rock-park-falls-on-deaf-ears.htm

Article from September:

http://themeparks.about.com/b/2008/09/25/soft-economy-crumbles-hard-rockmyrtle-beach-park-declares-bankruptcy-vows-to-reopen-in-2009.htm

What an expensive mistake with a world recognized brand name behind it. The articles mention the reasons they didn’t make it ranging from the economy, inability to raise enough money to properly market the opening, etc. But mostly it says, they couldn’t really figure it out.

Just imagine how many small, entrepreneurial businesses that spend millions of dollars and no one (or not enough people) end up buying their products so they can sustain themselves past the good times of ‘easy money’ into the current times of ‘hard to get’ or ‘no’ money. We’ve started to see those companies disappear. I’m wondering how Hard Rock can take a $400 million plus hit and how that will effect them during the next few years with regards to store openings and closings.

Now think about your start-up and think about whether you should start on that potential 7 year path and millions of dollars without knowing if anyone will show up on the other end.

Now think about your start-up and see if you can bootstrap it with a manageable amount of money, a reasonable time commitment, and have it ready and waiting when the economy turns.

Now think about how unpredictable life, business, and the markets are (click to see a Seth Godin post on all the things he predicted would happen in 2008).

Now get off your ass, work on being uncomfortably comfortable with change, and do something about it!

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