Going Back To Contracting

Going back to contracting whilst founding a business.

5 months ago I decided to go all in my business. It was offering fractional data analytics to small businesses to give them the insights they need for the next year. Fixed term, fixed fee; low risk, high reward for the customers I thought.

But I knew it would be a hard sell: most founders aren't looking for something like this so inbound marketing would be unlikely; my services are a set price between £5,000 and £10,000 so it is a high ticket sell and because I use my customers data it's a high ticket sell. All of those issues create a hard sell.

My thought process was that once I get my first few clients I can reinvest and ride on momentum and endorsements. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I haven't got to that point before running out of cash and it looks likely that I'll have to go back to contracting for some time.

So here's my question: has anyone gone back to contracting whilst founding their business? How do you explain the CV gap and what you've been doing? I'm very conscious of being perceived as a failure and dealing hiring managers thinking "why would I hire a failure".

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar situation.