Dancing with Disaster
Stephanie Alexander
Partner & Co-Founder, govmates | CEO & Founder, BOOST Create & Implement Intentional Ecosystems for Business Growth
I recently heard of the closing of a friend’s gastro brewpub, and it stirred more in me than I’d like to admit. As an entrepreneur, business owner, and someone with insight into various client’s businesses- this cuts deep. The idea that even with a great idea, great product, and great clientele that you can still go out of business strikes at the core. We often look at businesses that fail as having a fundamental issue – whether in delivery, pricing, staffing, or technical capabilities. We look for a reason as that makes it easier to process. We tell ourselves that we won’t fail because we don’t have that specific problem (or we’ll fix it if we do). We rationalize how others may fail but that we, as business owners, won’t.
Yet, good companies close. Good companies with great people who worked their asses off will still fail. This harsh reality is hard for us to process, as we must admit that it could happen to us. We could do all the right things and still fail. That’s the nature of business. It’s risky as hell, and sometimes timing and luck are the most important determining factors of success or failure. That feels out of our control. That feels arbitrary. Those are feelings that can keep us up at night.
Give an entrepreneur a problem, and they will solve it. Give them the luck of the draw odds, and it can feel daunting. But yet…they persist. Starry-eyed new business owners launch new endeavors every day, no matter the economy, no matter the conditions. Never underestimate the power of the good idea and the drive of an entrepreneur. One thing you can do is give them your faith, give them your support, and give them the benefit of the doubt. They are fighting against the current, and while some will absolutely rocket to their success, some will inevitably sink. Yet they at least dared to take the leap of faith and try.
In the spirit of support and faith, tag your favorite, hard-working, business buds below. We could all use a little extra oomph on our journeys to the top.
Russian Linguist/OSINT Researcher (TS/SCI-CI; worked in Russia for 15 years)
5 年Excellent post! Failure, disaster, tragedy, and stress are all inevitable, but they do have positive sides, including allowing people to gain life experience and become more resilient. Embracing failure to some extent makes people more realistic, and that's not a bad thing. It also makes you realize how ridiculously idiotic a lot of Hollywood movies are.....
Sr. Satellite Systems Test Engineer Lead US Army C5ISR DEVCOM Active DOD TS/SCI Cleared
5 年It's a shame to say, but somehow crap restaurants manage to stay in business and the good ones don't survive...It's an epidemic! There are way more lousy restaurants than good ones and it's sad. The only thing I can think of is it's so difficult to find and hold onto decent cooks and chefs. The few decent places have either family member chefs or pay big bucks to a chef and they may not last cause they always demand more more money and if the owner don't want to pay it can take the place down. While lousy restaurants get untrained and inexperienced cooks paying min wage and they end up staying in business. It's a pity.
Teri Wilt at T W Consulting, Inc found a high-demand market, developed the breadth of skills to handle whatever size GovCon client comes her way, and continually benefits her colleagues. (I know. I am one. - Thanks, Teri!) Hers is a flourishing small business with heart and talent!