Try Failing is a free startup survival simulator. You are dealt a random founder — name, city, savings, debts — and run a business for up to seven years, one month at a time. The model was built by learning from and analysing large-scale data on real businesses in each market. Most runs end in closure, as they do in real life.
Start the simulationRent, wages, taxes, loans and the economy behave differently in each market.
A market with a high share of self-employed businesses and fierce competition in the alleys. Policy loans and guarantee schemes are extensive, but rent and payroll are rising fast. Startups begin in an investment ecosystem backed by TIPS and government-backed fund-of-funds.
A mature, aging market. Spending runs on regulars, so customers leave slowly, but labor shortages and minimum-wage hikes keep squeezing the margin. An unsecured JFC startup loan makes opening relatively easy; venture funding is less than half of Korea's.
A dense retail and food-service market where night markets and delivery apps overlap. Youth startup loans and the credit guarantee fund ease the collateral burden, but payroll and social-insurance costs rise with the minimum wage. The AI and semiconductor export boom moves separately from domestic consumption.
The US rewards scale and speed and is brutal to small shops. Rent, health insurance and card fees eat the margin before the first customer walks in; SBA loans and venture capital exist, but reach a first-time founder slowly. Half of new employers are gone within five years.
A fast-growing market with a young population and more than 5.2 million business households. From 2026, lump-sum taxation is abolished and e-invoices become mandatory, so informal trade is formalizing. Delivery app fees reach 25–30%, and prices are rising again. Startups begin with venture funding that is shallow but growing quickly.