Failure happens, but don't allow it to derail you

Have you done your research?  Have you made your business plan?  Have you written down your goals?  Are you putting your business in a position to succeed? 

Have YOU failed enough to be successful?  Yes.....have you failed enough to be successful?  You should spend as much time evaluating your failures as you have spent researching, goals, and etc..  This is huge.  We can learn from our past.  I have used iconic people as examples in previous blogs to demonstrate the learning opportunities of those experiences, but our past should be used as well.

How many small businesses are there in the United States. Plenty! According to the latest Federal data, there are 24,653,098 small businesses in the United States.  According to a study by the U.S. Small Business Association, only 2/3 of all small business startups survive the first two years and less than half make it to four years. With numbers like that, it's no wonder so many entrepreneurs think twice before taking the plunge.

OK hold the press......our country was founded on small businesses.  I would like to see the stat on how many businesses are owned by someone that failed at a previous start up business.

If you start your business with the attitude that it's probably going to fail, guess what - it will. The businesses that succeed are the ones that were founded on an attitude of success.

BUT it takes more than attitude!  Because if it was solely up to attitude there would be a lot of wealthy business owners.  If something is worth having it is worth fighting for.  It requires nothing less than hard work to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to succeed. Sacrifice yes, but NOT sacrificing values and family.  If it means being unethical or pushing your family to the end of the bench then it is not worth fighting for.

I want share his name because I have not discussed it with him but my first business was in 7th grade with a great friend.  We started selling blow pops between classes.  We had a plan, a product, and demand was booming.  All was great until our target audience figured out they could buy them cheaper before school at the store.
We failed to have a plan B that would withstand changes in our market.  Mark it up my first failed attempt as a business owner.

I knew then, that one day I would be a successful business owner.  Through out I have had many failed attempts, but the great thing I decided to do was to add some education and hard work to my attitude.

Things I have learned over those failed attempts have been to plan well, plan for the risk, enjoy every minute, work hard, and don't let one failure kill your ability to move forward.  Negative times are the hardest to navigate but when you pass the storm the faster you can move in clear water.

I can't sum up how hard this is to swallow, how hard it is to think about failure, or the impact it can have on your life.  I recommend reading the Rich Dad book series and John Maxwell's Failing Forward. They are great!