Today, Eric explores the role of failure on the road to success.
Stay tuned as he clarifies why failure is part of the entrepreneurial journey, what you can learn if something goes wrong, and how you can keep moving forward.
Failure
When you build a business and take risks, things do not always work as planned. Failing is the price all entrepreneurs must pay to embark on their journey toward success.
Failing Does Not Make You a Failure
If your business fails, it does not make you a failure. When something goes wrong, you need to separate what happened in your business from your personal identity, and focus instead on what you can learn from it.
Learning
It’s essential to learn from every mistake you make. There is always something valuable to learn from costly mistakes that can help you prevent an even bigger one in the future.
Grit
Having grit does not mean you must keep going with something that is not working. You must always stay committed to your goal, but you might need to change the route you take to reach it.
When to Give Up
At times, you might have to give up on a bad product, a bad strategy, a toxic employee, or a market that does not want what you are selling. One failed approach, however, does not mean you should give up on your bigger mission.
Timelines
You can start a business at any age. Your timeline is your own, so there is no reason to measure your progress against anyone else’s.
Social Media
Social media tends to show the exits and successes—not the struggles that came before them. When you compare your behind-the-scenes with somebody else’s press release, you get a distorted picture of entrepreneurship. Struggling does not mean you are doing something wrong. It is simply part of building a business.
Learn From What Went Wrong
When things do not go as planned, you need to focus on the facts. Look at what happened, what was within your control, which assumptions turned out to be wrong, what you would do differently next time, and what system needs to change to prevent the same problem from happening again.
Unexpected Outcomes
Your failure could lead to an outcome you may not have anticipated. Some of Eric’s own difficult business experiences ultimately led him to make better decisions and find new opportunities.
Progress
To progress, you need ambition, learning, grit, and failure. Without learning, you will most likely repeat your mistakes, and without grit, you may even quit before allowing your attempt enough time to work properly.
Getting Back Up
You cannot avoid setbacks when building a business. What really matters is getting back up and becoming a little smarter each time.
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