Lessons to Learn from Failure as an Entrepreneur

There are multiple variables in business that we need to learn to roll with punches and we find those variables double in size and frequency as entrepreneurs.

Failing is inevitable in life and everyone fails at something or the other. Steve Jobs was rejected by many companies, Einstein was an awful student. Other famous personalities like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and even Oprah failed at something. Failure is, however, not the end of the world. The way you handle a situation determines who you are as a person and an entrepreneur.

Below are some lessons that novice entrepreneurs can learn from failures:

1. Cannot Experience Joy of Walking without Falling

These words cannot be truer. It is a story that they made up if they tell you that all they faced was a success and not a single failure. Failure is everywhere, whether in our personal lives, professional lives, and even grade school. Failure opens a whole new path for betterment and improvement of our lives and new experiences can be learned from it.

No matter how uncomfortable, frustrating, terrifying it may be, never close yourself to opportunities. Only when you step out of your comfort zone and pick yourselves up when you have hit rock bottom do we learn. There may be 999 victories in your life but all of them would’ve taught you nothing compared to what that 1 loss taught you. The biggest and most valuable lessons of life come through failure.

2. Follow your Gut

Always trust your instinct if you are an Entrepreneur. There are multiple risks that entrepreneurs face that others do not need to face. In addition to that, Entrepreneurs face an increased level of failure as it is the nature of their businesses. It is quite understandable why people are shy and do not want to go with their gut if they have experienced failure before but do not stop trusting your inner compass. Your instincts will always show you the right way. You must think about all your options and go with what your gut tells you to do.

If you are a rational person and always take account of results acquired with logic and math and are not happy with it, try to listen to your gut next time when you are making a crucial decision.

3. Challenge your Capabilities

All our lives we have been taught that success is achieved by following instructions and doing things the way they are needed to be done. This might be quite true for grade school but adds a rule of exception in life and business. We need to sometimes push the envelope.

There are many such times when you do not want to follow the principle of doing things the way they should be done. Whenever someone questions your decision of going the opposite way of status quo just because it’s not working, do not be discouraged and throw away your original plan. Be patient and take the risk.

Even if you are shy and no one cares about your opinion, always try to think outside of the box. Making that call is difficult but if it works then you will be standardizing all your business dealings in that particular way. You may not always be right with such a decision but there will be slight reassurance in your heart that you did not do something just because of the way it was supposed to be done. It is fine to challenge the status quo but do not be a smart ass and keep on challenging everything without any logic.

4. Create your Luck yourself

Every entrepreneur thinks about that one big break that would slingshot him/her to the stratosphere and business success whenever he/she starts his/her journey as an entrepreneur. While you are dreaming of that big break, make sure to prepare for the time when the big opportunity hits you. This is how the successful bunch makes their luck. The most important weapon you can have in your entrepreneurial arsenal is preparation. Failing to do so will guarantee your chances of failure when the big opportunity hits you.

If you want to make your luck, you also need to dedicate some time to analyze what happened and why? Entrepreneurs should introspect on the major turning points in their decisions where they could’ve made a different choice.  So question yourself about the whys and the whats of a decision you made in the past and how can you change them around the next time. You must analyse the nature of your business if you want to be prepared when the next stroke of luck hits.

5. Hustle becomes Easier when you do what you Love

Either due to personal or professional reasons, entrepreneurs often tend to go down this path. It is in the blood if you are to become an entrepreneur. This is something that you learn over time. At times when you don’t even get paid enough and still keep on doing what you love, that is when you realize you have true entrepreneurship blood in your veins.

Synopsis

The only secret in life that matters is there is no secret. There is no secret password, knock, or handshake. Every entrepreneur is unique and is molded by different circumstances and experiences. At some point, each one of us has failed and it should not determine your courage and audacity of your decision-making prowess. So, keep pushing yourself for newer benchmarks without losing heart because of failures. It teaches and makes you a better entrepreneur.

Mamta Sharma

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