Entrepreneurs: Don’t let initial failures stop you!

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Women Entrepreneurs - Don't let failures stop you

We all face failures at some time or the other in our lives. But, rather than get shattered, take stock of the situation. Since failure is at times, inevitable, we should accept the fact that we will fail at some point in our lives, more so if we branch off on our own.  

If you are an entrepreneur, you need to get comfortable with failure.  There’s a good chance that it’s going to happen to you. Winding up a business is not the end of your story. Finding ways to deal with closing a business (without being defined by it), is the only way to move forward and start anew. 

So, it’s absolutely critical that you adapt to learn from failure.

The trick is – to learn from failures, and come back strong. How can you turn around from a failure?

Accept that failure happens. The mindset that we grow up in, shuns failure, and we are taught that we should avoid being ‘wrong’ at all costs. It’s embedded in us that ‘failing’ is the worst thing that can happen to us.

Accepting failure is tough, and sometimes it’s easier to be in denial. Reality is that failure happens even to the best of us, so don’t be too hard on yourself. Once you know exactly what went wrong, take action. Learn from the setback, drop the baggage and move forward. Incorporate the lessons you learned into the next chapter of your life. Heal yourself. Rediscover yourself!

Get your finances sorted. Entrepreneurs who have been down this road, have found that their finances are in a disarray. Some suggest – why not try reaching out for a job? Working for someone else for a while, before jumping into your next business venture has its benefits. You will be able to earn an income, pay debts and buy yourself some time to figure out your next move. Sometimes, what started off as a way to make ends meet, may actually lead you to your next Big Idea!

Failure, you can say, is only a matter of perception. Where someone views it as a ‘failed venture’, an entrepreneur with the right mindset can find a new opportunity!

Reinvent yourself. When you are ready to enter the next chapter of your life, create a roadmap of how you’d like it to tick, and set measurable goals with timeframes for meeting them.

Take a hard look at the market, determine what would work best for you. Then create a more in-depth plan of action, including revenue and profitability projections. Instead of branding every single mistake or setback as a personal failure, try to redefine and understand what failure really means to you.

Just take a look at some prolific entrepreneurs like: Arianna Huffington – she was rejected by more than 30 publishers before launching Huffington Post. Jeff Bezos has weathered steady allegations time and time again, that both Amazon and he had reached the end of the road. Steve Jobs was fired from his own company, and yet he swung back, and went on to become an icon and a hero for future generations.

You don’t fail: you just learn. In the startup world, we often talk about how important it is to find the silver lining in every cloud. For entrepreneurs, every failure, mishap or mistake embodies a valuable opportunity for learning and self-reflection!

“I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won’t work,” said Thomas Edison. This is so inspiring, even now. In order to truly overcome and learn from failure, you must first have the right mindset when it comes to analyzing a failure.

So, has your failure taught you lessons? Did you slip? And how did you bounce back?

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