How to move past your failures and generate long-term success

When we imagine ourselves in the role of a business owner, we don’t often think about how we’ll manage in the case of failure. We typically envision our abilities to motivate our team, drive them to success, and even imagine our grandiose yet humble speeches as we accept numerous awards for our exceptional leadership. However, it's challenging to run a company if you can’t push through setbacks, and channel that exceptional leadership ability in getting your team to move past them.

In order to succeed as a business owner, you must be able to not only accept failure but be able to push past it.?

To help you understand my point, here are some examples of what I have seen first-hand with my clients:

Case 1: Client with a great idea

The first client had a fantastic business concept, but it was new in the market. This meant we had to educate potential customers before they are ready to buy. For four months, we worked on her brand and offer, but the progress was very slow which was discouraging for her.?

We started to assist her by making adjustments to her offer, maintaining one offer and devising a strategy to educate and keep that brewing while creating a second offer that would sell quickly and bring in money. Although we wouldn’t completely consider the first offer a failure, we did take those expectations we had in mind for an offer and transfer those into a new one.?

The first offer didn’t align with the expectations we had for the business. Instead of impulsively scratching the first offer, we kept pushing, gaining feedback, making money, and using those experiences to create an offer that better represented both the client's and customer's expectations.?

Case 2: Client who was stubborn about their offer?

One of the clients I worked with had an offer that was not selling at all. Every day, we’d tell them that no one is interested in what they are selling, but they were stubborn about it. Eventually, we suggested they talk to other vendors in the same industry. After having those conversations, our client saw their product would not sell and finally agreed to revise the offer.?

Sometimes, you will have clients that aren’t receptive to your critiques as a coach. When things aren't working out, it's important to take a hard look in the mirror. Sometimes you have to make your client understand where you’re coming from, even if it means encouraging them to talk to someone else. When you’re so invested in your own idea, it can be hard to pull back and find the bigger picture. To make them understand better about the situation, ask them to do their own research. Force them to think for themselves, and pretty soon their vision will align with your expertise.?

Failure is inevitable but find solutions

The lesson for the day is that failure is inevitable. Something will go wrong, and it's up to you to figure out how to fix it. Entrepreneurs that focus on finding a solution rather than lamenting the problem are the ones that tend to prosper.?

My number one tip for business owners is to reserve an hour every week to see the good and bad in your business. For the problems, don’t just highlight them. Brainstorm how you can fix them. You need to make time for these activities if you really want to turn those failures into strengths.

Conclusion

Spend time learning the issues at hand, brainstorming possible solutions, remaining non-defensive, and keeping in mind that failure is inevitable. Although setbacks are unavoidable, giving up is not the solution. Use every setback as a stepping stone to greater maturity and learning, and your business and skillset will see improvement.