Many fledgling business owners make the mistake of believing that they have to get things right the first time. In fact, this belief is not only impractical; it also proves to be nearly impossible for many entrepreneurs. As much as they may not want to acknowledge it in the beginning, failure can be crucial to these people's future success as business owners. Rather than feeling discouraged and defeated after their first failure, newcomers to the business world can benefit by understanding how this initial setback can benefit them in the long run.
Motivational Tool
Few things can be as motivating as defeat. In fact, if business owners can realize that their failure should be a motivational tool to be used to their advantage, they could reach new levels of success previously beyond their imaginations. However, to use failure in this way, entrepreneurs should also remember to keep their goals in mind and even adjust their goals if necessary to make their success more realistic. As long as they keep trying, these individuals will eventually achieve the entrepreneurial victory they desire, all the while acknowledging that it was their initial failure that played a key role in their decision to keep working toward their goal.
Process of Elimination
Another beneficial way that entrepreneurs can process their early failures is by appreciating these setbacks as part of a process of elimination. Just as scientists test theories and formulate hypotheses, so can business owners test their theories by welcoming failure as part of their process of as the right solution. Every setback should be viewed as one step closer to the ideal answer to the question that they have been pursuing all along. When they consider failure in this light, entrepreneurs may find the fortitude to keep trying and to keep working toward their dreams of owning their own business.
Teaching Resource
Failure can also be a great teaching tool to file away and use to train and motivate others. When they finally perfect their methods, business owners can look back on their earlier failures and realize what they should avoid doing in the future. Likewise, when they hire employees or take on proteges, they can use these setbacks as lessons that can benefit the training and inspiration of those under their tutelage. In time, the failures may even seem comical or absurd. Nonetheless, these incidences can teach people the right way to do business and avoid behaviors and patterns of thinking that are detrimental.
Inevitability of Failure
In the overall grand scheme of owning a business, failure is inevitable, even for the most talented and driven of individuals. It cannot be avoided. Everyone at some point is going to fail. In fact, some of the most successful businesses today experienced dismal failures in their earliest of days. Once people accept that when, not if, they experience failure in their attempts to start a business, they are in good company. They can look to today's brightest and richest business leader and appreciate knowing that these individuals too felt the same frustration and disappointment that comes with seeing one's plans fail miserably. Failure can lead to greater levels of success when people understand that it is a normal part of becoming a business owner.
No one likes to think about failing, especially when they are trying to start a business. However, failure can be a powerful resource to be used to people's advantage when they understand how their setbacks can actually benefit them in the future. They can attain new levels of success and build innovative companies that will stand the test of time. Some of the world's best business leaders all experienced early defeats. People who truly want to join the business arena can take comfort in realizing that failure is a part of that process.
