I can hardly count the number of times I’ve had to address and move past a personal failure or shortcoming in business. In my journey as an entrepreneur (a term I use lightly, though I am my own boss!), I’ve encountered everything from tricky projects and customer dissatisfaction to accounting errors and financial obstacles, all of which at one time or another have seemed poised to derail me professionally.
I’ve spent enough time speaking to other people with entrepreneurial interests or their own businesses to know that these concerns aren’t unique to me. Being your own boss and/or running a business is hard, not just because the work itself is demanding but because at the end of the day you’re responsible for holding yourself accountable. This means that when you mess up, there’s no one to say, “here’s what you did wrong, here’s how you fix it.” That part’s on you, too.
Over time, I’ve had enough experience in this regard to figure out a few strategies for addressing one’s own failures in business, and I’ve also done my research on what turned out to be a pretty popular topic of discussion in entrepreneurial circles. So here are four tips for handling your own failures in business.
Tip #1 – Take Some Deep Breaths
Or, more specifically, press pause. This is a tip I’m borrowing from a post on how to survive a breakup as a business owner, because it absolutely applies to more ordinary business obstacles as well. In fact, forget about both businesses and breakups for a moment and consider this: a lot of us, and I’d argue particularly those of us who are personally driven and goal-oriented, have a tendency to act quickly to cover up failure. In my experience, the tendency is spawned by some sort of internal embarrassment. I don’t screw up, we think, I’d better fix that before I have to actually confront it.
It’s an understandable emotion, but it also leads to rash behavior and questionable decisions as often as not. Do yourself and whatever business you may be running a favor, and when you do mess up (trust me, it’s going to happen), take some deep breaths. Analyze the situation calmly and rationally.
Tip #2 – Don’t Sugarcoat It
In addition to taking the time to really acknowledge a failure or shortcoming, it’s also important not to sugarcoat or rationalize it. Personally, I think I’ve always understood this on some level, but I’ve never seen it articulated as well as by the woman behind Menlo Coaching, an MBA application coaching platform I’ve referred back to on numerous occasions (despite the fact that I’m far beyond applying to business school).
Through advice given to clients and a particularly insightful blog post about how to write about personal failures, the Menlo platform communicates the simple but crucial importance of being open and honest with oneself about things that might not have gone so well. We all want to succeed, and because of that there’s a natural inclination to sugarcoat shortcomings; yeah, I messed up, but then I fixed the problem and moved past it, so no harm done. Sometimes this is really how it happens, but thinking that way won’t make you any more likely to avoid similar mistakes in the future. Being open about problems with yourself and any others who may be involved is a better way to assess how and why you messed up to begin with.
Tip #3 – Use Failure To Uncover Instinct
Providing advice on lessons learned through failure for an article in The Huffington Post, one CEO stated wisely, “the failures that you beat yourself up over are the ones where you experienced warning signs….” Basically, she means that if you screw up in a way that you could have seen (or maybe even did see) coming, it’s a lot more frustrating than if something bad simply happens to you. Here’s a clear example: if your computer system crashes due to a bad storm, you might be frustrated, annoyed, and set back to some extent. If it happens again a month later and you lose all your data because you neglected to back it up, your frustration will be amplified not because of misfortune, but because you had a warning and you failed to act on it.
Through recognizing scenarios like this, you can actually start to use failures to uncover and better act on your own instincts. If once or twice you realize that you knew a problem was coming all along, you’ll be better prepared mentally to trust your own feelings the next time you sense something wrong.
Tip #4 – View It As A Sign Of Progress
I know, I know, this sounds a little bit buttered up. Failure is failure to a lot of entrepreneurs, and in a way that’s not the worst attitude to have. Again, it’s important to be honest about shortcomings, and that means recognizing them for what they are. But in the greater scheme, it’s also helpful and beneficial to try to treat failures as signs of progress toward overall success.
“Each failure gets progressively easier,” argued a post at Entrepreneur, and maybe that’s the simplest way to put it. As you act on the other pieces of advice in this post, you can make it easier with each new issue that arises. In doing so, you can begin to see how conquering every new problem ultimately improves your efficiency and perfects your business.
And there you have it. If you’re running your own business and find yourself frustrated when things aren’t going your way, try to keep some of these tips in mind. It can seem counterintuitive, but failure really is part of the process toward making things work.