When you find online advice aimed at entrepreneurs, most of it will focus on things like investing, creating a business plan, refining products, etc. Although these are very important aspects to cover when running a business, there is also another side to the whole story. People like to consider and prepare only for good things that might happen to them in their business endeavors. It is important to dream about success, but you won’t get there if you don’t plan for failures as well.
Bear in mind that the majority of start-up businesses fail in their starting years. And, if not prepared properly, they are likely to close down soon after they open up. By changing your mindset, you will find it easier to recognize the biggest business issues and prepare financially, emotionally and intellectually, to make the necessary steps in case a certain business endeavor fails.
Planning For Failure Is Not Wrong
You might think that this is somewhat paranoid or negative. On the contrary, planning for disastrous situations only makes you smarter than the rest. First of all, let’s get something clear, there is a huge difference between thinking that you are going to fail and preparing yourself for failure. These are two completely different things.
When thinking that you are going to fail, you will discourage yourself and hold back growth. Being prepared means making practical decisions and thinking about all possible outcomes, so that you can prepare and motivate yourself.
In many ways, this kind of attitude can also encourage you to make more progress, since being prepared removes fear and gives you confidence to keep going further. Additionally, if you are honest to yourself and if you think about your future, it will be much easier to identify the mistakes you are making along the way, and correct them as you go.
You Will Look At Things More Objectively
Starting up and being a leader of a business can be a very emotional and difficult experience. The majority of entrepreneurs feel like their company is their “baby”, since it’s something that they started and took care of since the very beginning with utmost devotion. By preparing yourself for worst case scenarios, you can balance the whole thing.
How exactly can this be done? By planning for failure in advance or considering exit strategies, you will start looking at facts and possible negative outcomes, becoming more objective and analytical in your actions.
You will get a much better perspective if distanced from your business organization, as it will be much easier for you to look at your company from a customer’s or an investor’s standpoint. Generating ideas will be much easier and you can also notice all the errors you’ve made because you were too emotionally invested.
Moving On Will Be Much Easier When Planning For Failure
Preparing and considering all possible outcomes can help you handle hard blows that might happen in the future. A big part of being an entrepreneur is making mistakes, understanding where you went wrong and dealing with them. Everyone makes errors, and it’s impossible to make everything run smoothly without a hitch. You have to learn to overcome your failures quickly and learn from them, so that you don’t repeat them in the future.
It’s highly unlikely that your first start-up will instantly take off. This is why you must be prepared to deal with current problems and adjust to make progress. Plan financially, mentally and emotionally, and remove your personal feelings from it as much as possible. This is the only way to recharge your energy and keep dealing with new business affairs. When I first started optimizing my e-commerce store, we had a lot of problems, but we kept our heads cool and made things work in the end. You need to learn to roll with the punches if you want to overcome adversity and succeed.
Nobody wants to face failure, but this is one of the important parts of being an entrepreneur. Cover all the aspects of running a business such as marketing, business growth strategies, hiring capable workers, and you won’t have any major problems. The important thing is to keep moving forward and not let the mistakes you’ve made discourage you. Best of luck to you on the road towards success.
The author is highly qualified and writes blog posts weekly.
