‘Failure’ is such a harsh word, that we will avoid it at all costs when we talk about our careers and our business ventures. It is seen as completely negative, as if failure and success are polar opposites. What if we told you that this simply isn’t true? That embracing your failures could actually do more for your business and career than an obsession with obtaining success.
As a necessary part of your journey towards experiencing true success, you will need to understand and manage your failures along the way. The best way to do this is to define what your expectations of success are. Everyone has different parameters of measuring success – for one person success could be reaching a particular revenue number, and for another it could be being able to run a business doing what they love and still being able to dedicate most of their time to their loved ones. Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?>>
If you do not embrace your failures you are inadvertently setting your business up for demise, because you are robbing it of the flexibility of applying adhoc corrective action. Something you may only encounter if you look at your failures as opportunities to better shape your business.
Why you should embrace failure in your business
Failure teaches you things that no one else can; firstly by admitting failures you can confront them and in future see them coming a mile ahead like big red flags so that you can avoid repeating them. Find out if you’re making one of these 10 costly business mistakes>>
When you do fail, it forces you to look closely and critically at your motivations. This helps you refine why you are doing what you are doing, and enabling you to tighten your business focus.
Failing also does something to you as a person. You become strong, compassionate, and wise. This comes from the understanding that failing isn’t a diversion from your journey to success, but rather a crucial part of it. Also, as rocky as the road gets – if you’ve fared small battles along the way – you will know how to deal with, and come out of, a rough patch.
Learn from others and avoid common mistakes
Unfortunately with a lot of businesses you can only really see your failures retrospectively and so many mistakes need to be made in order to learn something. However, where possible, you can learn from others’ common mistakes, and having a mentor is one way to do this.
Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of not looking for mentorship; effectively cutting themselves off from valuable advice from entrepreneurs who have already encountered failure and overcome it. Learn how mentorship will enable you to grow>>
If you would like some advice on your business idea or how to grow your business from a one man show to hiring your first person, contact me at richard@emagination.co.za.