Failing is an essential part of anyone’s journey, especially in the business and industrial world. Any successful entrepreneur has many stories of failures to tell – but what is even more important are the stories of how they came to overcome these failures and ultimately achieve success. So, if you have made a bad business decision, do not beat yourself up too much – it is all about how you bounce back from it.
Know When to Persist and When to Move On
It is important to understand that sometimes you need to persevere in order to get your idea across. Take J.K. Rowling, for example, the author behind the Harry Potter book series. Rowling started writing the books back in 1990 but had to go through a series of rejections before Bloomsbury took on the book in 1997, paying her £2,500 for her first manuscript. She eventually became the first author to reach $1 billion in earnings through her books, which transformed into a $25 billion empire. In the commencement speech she gave at Harvard University in 2008, she pointed out that just before Harry Potter got published, she was, by all accounts, the biggest failure she knew – which was strangely liberating.
Failing in her personal and professional life allowed Rowling to focus on what really mattered to her: writing books. There are many lessons in this story, but perhaps the biggest one is that you need to keep having faith in your abilities even when you have failed. You need to develop the skills that will allow you to understand when you have to keep insisting on your business idea – maybe it is simply an issue of finding the right marketing approach? – and when you have to give up and move on. Perhaps, like Rowling, you have not found your true calling yet. Identifying what went wrong is the first step in order to come up with a plan that will allow you to cut back on losses and recalibrate.
Learn the Lesson
Research suggests that failed businessmen have a higher chance of success at their second endeavor – and the more time they spent in their first entrepreneurship attempt, the more likely they are to succeed at the next one. Just like the Evernote creator, who decided to focus on a product he would really love to use in his third business attempt. Just before he was ready to shut the project down, he received a funding offer of $500,000, which helped him keep the company afloat and develop it into the more than $1 billion business it is today. So when you see that things have gone south, be brave and own up to the mistake. This will clear the path for your next goal – the one that is truly worth the risk.
Every entrepreneur who is famous nowadays has had a big failure in their past – including industry giants like the chocolate and confectionery manufacturer Mars. According to Betway’s list of 8 of the Worst Business Decisions, Mars passed on the chance to feature in E.T., the iconic 1982 blockbuster. Instead, Hershey took the chance and coughed up $1 million for an on-screen placement of Reese’s Pieces – which returned $20 million in exposure value. And, if you think rejecting Harry Potter was the ultimate blunder, consider how Dick Rowe of Decca Records must feel. According to the same list, he turned down an offer to sign The Beatles, the band that has sold more records than any other – 178 million to date – before they became famous. So, whatever has gone awry with your development and planning strategies, it cannot be that bad. Instead of focusing on what went wrong, keep your mind occupied on what you can do better next time and how you can avoid the same mistake.
Asking future-oriented questions can allow you to extract the lesson that is to be learnt from every bad business decision and avoid wasting energy and resources on pining about the past. Regrouping and refocusing will allow you to understand that this was just another obstacle in a long journey and rebuild your brand around the resilience that every good entrepreneur and leader must be known about.
