Acknowledging My Weaknesses: The First Step to Starting Over

Originally posted on Facebook: 28 July 2025.

Admitting mistakes as a leader

Demand had fallen, but I still believed things would return to the way they were. I wasn't looking after cash flow. Team commissions were too high, while salaries kept going out even when sales weren't coming in.

I found it hard to make cuts. But in doing so, I wasn't managing the business's finances well. I also made the mistake of buying a car I didn't really need.

All of this required me to review my own decisions. I needed to take responsibility for how I managed the business and the team. I had to acknowledge my mistakes as a leader.

Reviewing the numbers and taking action

I began spending longer in prostration at night, praying tahajjud and asking Allah for help. In that situation, I realised I also needed to get to work. I couldn't simply wait for a miracle.

The first step was to look at every number in the business. I cut my own salary, sold an unnecessary car, stopped excessive commissions and closed unprofitable projects.

I finally had to face the things I had found too hard to change. Acknowledging my weaknesses had to be followed by decisions to fix what I could.

Learning again with a small team

After that, I started with a small team and trained them from scratch. I became the livestream host, created content, edited videos, designed images and prepared captions and scripts myself.

I chose TikTok even though I was a complete beginner. With help from friends, I learned, observed and tried things for myself. I had to accept reality and not be ashamed to learn from the ground up again.

With the new team, we chose one MommyHana product and began selling it through livestreams. Some sessions didn't work out, sales were zero, videos broke platform rules and hosts lost motivation. We learned and improved our work every day.

Along the way, my mentor helped provide direction. There were prayers from my mother and mother-in-law, and support from my wife as I worked to start over.

I learned that acknowledging my weaknesses was part of my responsibility as a leader. From there, I could begin correcting my decisions and learning again. It's all right to rebuild slowly, as long as I keep trying.