Overcome failure and keep delivering genuine results

No one wants to talk about it. But, whether you want to admit it or not, if you're a service-based business owner, you will have, on at least one occasion, failed to deliver the results you've promised.

It happens. We're all human, and sometimes we make mistakes.

What does failure look like? Well, it could be a missed deadline, less than expected product/service quality, or your results might simply miss the mark.

The fact is, we fail to deliver through overpromising. We know we CAN provide a service; we know that the result IS genuinely possible, but we fail to consider our limited resources — time, technology and cost.

We have an inkling, deep in the back of our subconscious, that we should say no. But no is a hard word to muster up when the mortgage is due, the washing machines just broke, and the car needs its MOT (things come in threes right?).

I know when I started out in business, on occasion (and yes it's shameful to admit) I failed to deliver. If you're honest with yourself, you'll remember a time too.

Why did it happen?

Maybe a member of staff was off sick, and we couldn't meet the deadline. Maybe the technology failed, and we didn't have a backup. Maybe the price was too low, and we burnt out.

Whatever the reason, it happens across all size of business. Yes, the bigger the company, the less personal the letdown. But failing to deliver will negatively affect any size of business big or small if its cause isn't addressed. Testimonials and reviews form the backbone to all companies these days; you can't survive without them.

It's painful, and it's shameful.

If you've read this far, and you've remembered a time that you let someone down, I might have stirred up some negative emotions in you. But honestly, it's ok. 

As human beings, we all desperately want to do a good job (unless you're a narcissist or psychopath and you're reading this thinking you don't actually care about other people at all. Although, I very much doubt that type of person would have read past the title).

Back to the point - aiming to please is not just something we do because we know it’s good for business. It's more than that. We're hardwired to help people. We're all passionate business owners doing the best we can to provide a valuable service.

So what's next? How can we move forward?

Here are four ways that I've found limit failure in my business; let me know if you're doing the same.

• I stick to providing services that I know I'm really good at - yes, I can do other things but if it's not 100% my 'thing' I won't take on the work.
• I outsource anything that isn't 'my thing' to someone who is more experienced in that area - LinkedIn is a great place to find such people.
• I fix my prices at a rate that I'm happy with, no budging, lowering or bartering.
• I don't over commit. I schedule my work, family and personal time in one calendar and leave a little space for flexibility.

I think if you stick to these four things you're going to reduce cases of failing to deliver substantially. Maybe not entirely, sometimes things happen that are out of our control. But you'll put an end to the kind of shame-inducing failure that comes from overpromising.

Join the conversation

I hope I haven't stirred up too many negative emotions for you, that was quite a hard piece to write. If I have, please remember, we all make mistakes; it's better to learn from them and move on.

I don't expect to read personal examples of when you've failed, that might be a bit too shame-inducing. But please do join the conversation in the comments, I think this is an important topic, and I would love to know if you've found this article useful.

Thanks for reading.

https://www.hannah-gibson.co.uk