If there is one thing all business owners will face at some point in their journey, it’s failure. Failure can come in many forms for us business owners and is usually feared above all else. What many business owners don’t seem to grasp is that failure can often be your key to success. Instead of being afraid of your failure and pushing it out of your mind, I urge you to embrace it. You will be surprised at how much your failures can teach you and why you need to fail to succeed in small business.
Why You Need To Fail To Succeed
Never Repeat Your Mistakes
We’ll start with the most obvious reason why you need to fail to succeed. Failure teaches you valuable lessons. We all make mistakes in both business and life. While the immediate aftermath of our failure totally sucks, we usually are grateful for it further down the line. It teaches us what not to do, stopping us from making the same critical mistakes when there is more at stake. By paying attention to your failures and the mistakes you made, you can learn a lot from them and ensure you never make the same mistake twice.
Find Your Support System
In my opinion, every business owner needs a solid support system behind them. The trouble is that knowing who you can count on can be more difficult than you’d think. That’s where failure comes in. When we fail, we reach out for support, whether on purpose or subconsciously. We need people around us to share our low points with, that help us pick ourselves up and carry on. In times like these, your true support system will show itself. Knowing who you can count on is invaluable as a business owner, which is why commiserating your failures with your support system is such a valuable experience.
Overcome Your Failure Fears
We all know that the best way to overcome a fear is to dive headfirst into what scares you. For many business owners, their number one fear is failure, which holds them back from taking risks and making moves that could grow their business. Once you have failed in business, the fear of failure loses its power. By knowing that you can get through a big business failure, you will feel more confident when diving into a new endeavour in the future.
Find Your Flexibility
Nobody expects failure, so when you do experience it for yourself it can really throw a wrench in your plans. This is a good thing. By experiencing failure you are forced into a state of uncertainty which requires flexibility. Flexibility is something you need when you’re a business owner as it allows you to adapt to your circumstances. The more practice you get at being flexible due to your failures, the easier it will be for you to adapt in the future and find creative solutions that yield results.
Get Some Perspective
It’s an awesome feeling when things are going great. You can be on top of the world in your thriving business bubble, going through the motions and underestimating the true challenges that small business owners face. Failure is what brings us down to earth. One of the biggest errors business owners can make is assuming that when things are going well, they will continue to follow that trend. Experiencing failure will keep you grounded and prepared for anything that comes your way, which is why you need to fail to succeed.
Refocus and Rediscover Your Goals
When analysing our failures, we need to take a long hard look at what went wrong and why we chose to embark on that endeavour in the first place. This gives us an awesome opportunity to refocus on our ‘why’ and rediscover our business goals that may have been pushed to the side. Failures often indicate that either this wasn’t the right time, or just wasn’t the right project, to begin with. By realising that you can refocus on what you and your business need right now you can work toward achieving your true goals.
Gain Valuable Business Experience
Lastly, failure gives you valuable experience that lends you credibility in your field. It may seem counter-intuitive that failing at something could actually strengthen your expertise, but failing makes you relatable, experienced and shows that you don’t give up when the going gets tough.
Ask yourself, would you prefer a business coach for women who has has a picture-perfect career with zero hardship or someone who has fought tooth and nail to be where they are? I know I would go with the latter because pushing through failure and coming out stronger on the other side earns my respect any day of the week.
No success story that is worth telling is free from obstacles. There will always be bumps in the road, and some of them are going to knock you on your ass. The key is to take stock of your failures and value them as the learning experiences that they are. There is so much you can learn about yourself, your business, and those around you during tough times, so don’t just bury your head in the sand and give up. Carry your failures like a badge of honour and be grateful for the lessons they teach you.
Where to from here
If you feel stuck in your business and lack the clarity and strategy you need to move your business forward – I’d love to hop on a 30-minute discovery call to explore your goals, struggles and how I might be able to help move your business forward. Book in for your free 30 minute discovery call here.
Or feel free to join the Australian Business Collaborative which is my Facebook group that gives small business owners a safe space to ask for help, share their wins, and be part of a community.
Or feel free to listen to my podcast The Business and Life Conversations Podcast or read my latest blog.
Have a fab day,
Ange
