The Hard Truth About IoT Startups: Lessons from My Failures

I Failed at Building an IoT Business Before Succeeding. Here’s What I Learned.

“This is it. This idea will work. I can see it changing the world.”

That was my mindset years ago when I first stepped into the world of IoT entrepreneurship. I was confident—too confident, perhaps. With decades of experience in the industry, I thought I had the perfect combination of knowledge, network, and credibility to launch a successful IoT business.

I believed that if I built the right solution, the market would naturally embrace it. After all, IoT was the buzzword at every tech conference, and businesses were talking about the potential of connected devices.

But reality? It had a very different lesson in store for me.

The First Failure: Overestimating Market Readiness

I started FAVORIOT with the assumption that businesses and government agencies were fully prepared to adopt IoT solutions. The Smart City vision was gaining traction, and industry leaders were excited about automation, data-driven decision-making, and real-time monitoring.

So, with high hopes, I built my first IoT solution. I expected clients to immediately recognize its value. But when I went out to pitch my idea, I was met with hesitation, skepticism, and endless bureaucratic challenges.

“Why aren’t they jumping at this? Can’t they see how valuable this technology is?”

The problem wasn’t the technology—it was the mindset. Many organizations were still unsure about IoT. They didn’t fully understand how it worked, they feared implementation risks, and most importantly, they didn’t have dedicated budgets for IoT initiatives. To them, IoT was still an experimental concept, not a necessity.

This was my first painful realization: Just because something is revolutionary doesn’t mean people are ready for it. I had to find a way to bridge the gap between technological potential and real-world adoption.

The Second Failure: Underestimating the Sales Process

“If the product is good, it will sell itself.”

That was a dangerous assumption. I thought that once people saw my IoT solution in action, they would be convinced. After all, logic and data should win, right? But I quickly realized that people don’t just buy technology—they buy trust, relationships, and clear return on investment.

I spent months refining my IoT platform, making sure it was technically superior. But I wasn’t spending nearly enough time understanding the actual pain points of my potential customers. I was offering a futuristic solution to people who weren’t even sure they had a problem that needed solving.

When I approached businesses, they weren’t asking, “How advanced is your platform?” They were asking, “How will this help us save money?”

That’s when it hit me. I was speaking the wrong language.

I had to shift my focus from selling technology to selling solutions. Instead of talking about sensors, APIs, and cloud computing, I had to show how IoT could reduce operational costs, improve efficiency, and generate new revenue streams.

Once I made this adjustment, I noticed a change. Conversations became easier, and decision-makers started seeing the value. It wasn’t just about technology anymore—it was about business outcomes.

The Third Failure: Learning Through Building Partnerships

At first, I thought I needed to build everything on my own. But as I encountered more roadblocks, I realized something crucial: IoT is not a one-man show. It requires an ecosystem.

When I started reaching out to potential partners, I discovered that the IoT adoption challenge wasn’t just mine alone—others were facing similar struggles. System integrators, software developers, and even hardware manufacturers were all trying to navigate the complexities of IoT implementation.

That’s when I started building strategic partnerships.

Instead of trying to convince companies to adopt IoT on my own, I worked with system integrators who already had trusted relationships with businesses. They understood their clients’ operational challenges far better than I did, and they could position our IoT solutions as part of a broader digital transformation strategy.

I also realized that collaborating with universities and research institutions could help us educate the next generation of IoT professionals. Through partnerships, we could develop case studies, provide training programs, and increase awareness about real-world IoT applications.

This was a game-changer. By leveraging partnerships, we accelerated adoption and expanded our market reach much faster than I ever could have done alone.

What I Learned from These Failures

Looking back, these failures were painful, but they were necessary. They forced me to adapt, rethink my strategy, and ultimately build a stronger business.

Here are the key lessons I took away:

1. Timing matters. Just because a technology is exciting doesn’t mean the market is ready for it.

2. Selling is about solving problems, not just promoting features. Speak the language of business impact, not just technology.

3. You can’t build an IoT business alone. Success comes from building partnerships and working within an ecosystem.

4. Resilience is everything. If I had given up after my first failure, I wouldn’t be here today.

Where We Are Today

Today, FAVORIOT is working with partners across multiple countries. We’ve built an IoT platform that helps businesses adopt smart solutions in a practical, scalable way. We’ve collaborated with system integrators, universities, and corporations to drive IoT adoption.

But none of this would have happened if I hadn’t learned from my early failures.

Would I go back and change my struggles? Absolutely not.

Because those failures weren’t the end of my journey—they were the foundation of my success.