Many of us have experienced having a dream that doesn’t come true.
Maybe we imagined a situation playing out a certain manner or assumed we’d be employed in a different field than what we are now.
A student from South Australia has learned firsthand that things don’t always go as planned or hoped for, which is a sad part of life.
The young boy bravely took the risk to start his own cafe, but was devastated when not a single client came up.
According to reports, 18-year-old Tom Oswald from South Australia had ambitions of veering away from the more conventional paths directly after high school.
Considering himself done with education for the time being, Oswald instead chose to take a gamble by way of opening up a small cafe in the town of Handorf, which lies south-east of Adelaide.
By all accounts, the teen put considerable blood, sweat, tears, and money into the venture, resulting in a cozy little establishment that he was looking forward to welcoming patrons to.
Yet when he opened up shop… and didn’t see a single customer, Tom was left devastated.
He took to TikTok to share this heartbreaking experience in a video that’s since gone viral.
Tom’s eye-watering confession has racked up over two million views, while Tom himself earned plenty of online fans quick to offer him support.
“This makes me so sad tell me where this is so I can come please,” one user commented.
“Me checking flights just to come and support this man’s cafe,” another added.
“We’ve got a group coming up to Hahndorf in a couple of weeks – we’ll come in for coffee!” a third said.
Watch Tom’s TikTok here, or below:
@homeboy.co Still waiting for a customer #sad #adelaide #hahndorf #paintok ♬ original sound – yrn_editzz11
To acquire the experience needed to run his own cafe, Tom told how he had worked for two years at another cafe. He admitted there was room for improvement where his coffee making talents were concerned, but insisted he’s continually striving to get better.
“I am 18 years old, straight out of high school, currently in my gap year and this project is literally the only thing I’m ever working on,” the 18-year-old told News Corp.
“I’m either at the shop working or working from the outside, finding ways I can improve the business in any way I can.”