Failure Happens. Learn from it.
From a failed product launch to a book that didn’t sell well, most entrepreneurs — and most people — fail. You can’t avoid it; it’s a natural stepping stone to success. You can, however, learn lessons from it and make it your creative ally. Keep in mind some of the most successful entrepreneurs failed and made a comeback, benefiting from their past failures. Take the Beatles; they were rejected by five record companies. Walt Disney was turned down about 300 times when looking for funding for his theme park. JK Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers before Harry Potter saw the light of day. If you ask Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, failure is a side effect of innovation. Here’s a couple power tips to keep you moving on.
Take Responsibility
Take responsibility for your failure. Perform a trial-and-error process, observe, and ask questions. Why did you fail? Why was the market not ready for your product? Why did your manuscript get rejected? Why did that potential client decline your proposal? When recovering from failure, it’s important to observe the missteps and prevent them from happening again. Get out of the gray zone, and identify the problems. How can you restructure it for next time?
Go Toward Your Mistakes
Failure is a fact. If you are going to do it, you need to do it well. You have to mentally prepare yourself for it. But don’t wait until it’s too late. If you’re about to lose your business, you have to peel off the band-aid in one swift pull. To ease the transition, consider an early shutdown or sacrificing part of your earnings. Don’t forget to take care of your people. Nobody likes surprises, so you’ll need to make your staff and clients aware of the problem. Either way, it’s a rocky road that comes with losses, and you want to get through it fast. All eyes are on you right now, and you need to remain calm.
It’s Worth It
It sounds crazy, but failing is worth it. It gets you where you need to go. Once you have made it through the storm and stepped back to analyze, you can identify what went wrong. You’ll be among all the bittersweet pieces of your aspirations. Minister and Writer Norman Vincent Peale said, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” If you’re passionate about something, you’ll ride the rollercoaster until you make your final landing.
So there you have it — failure happens. Take it from the best of the best. Nobody gets to the grand stage without tripping on the steps first. Embrace every bittersweet taste of it. You’ll get roasted, but keep going until you win!