I become a full time domain investor in November of 2007. At the time, I was advancing in my marketing career, but looking at my options since I needed a change. Just prior to resigning, I had worked out a couple of deals that were to be finalized in January of 2008, so I knew I was going to be in a good financial position for 2008.

My thought was that I would be a domain investor for at least a year and see where I net out after that first year. Worse came to worse, I would mess around for the year and begin to look for another marketing job in corporate America if things didn’t work out.

Well, now it’s been three years, and my business has grown. Although my income is not quite as high as it was in 2006/2007 (primarily because this wasn’t my main source of income), I am very fortunate to make a good living at what I do, and I won’t complain about the financial aspect of it for a second.

The issue is that this business is unpredictable. Every day is a risk, and nothing is guaranteed. I do have liquid assets that could be sold if necessary, but I don’t want to sell core assets unless I have a strategic purpose for doing so.

As the days go by, my friends continue to advance in their careers. They are getting promotions, pay raises, and taking on more challenges and responsibilities at their companies. They are positioning themselves for leadership positions in their companies or getting ready to start their own businesses with their deep experiences to support them.

Should my business begin to fail, I feel like I’ve put my career on pause. I have a lot to show for it, but I don’t think my “TRAFFIC Best Blog Award” will be impressive to a recruiter or HR department.  I think failure is my biggest fear, but the fear of failure is one of the biggest things that drives me.