Don’t allow failure to stop you from bouncing back

A couple of years ago, I lost a great friend who succumbed to a stroke, prompted by what many people thought was business-related stress.
His business had failed a few years earlier and he seemed not able to adjust, especially after his properties were auctioned.

He moved to another town and tried to start another business but sadly he passed on before it picked up.

Business failure, like any other failure, injures our ego, personality and self esteem. Logically, we acknowledge that there is a lesson to be learned in every failure and history bears witness that most of the greatest achievers also routinely experienced enormous failures.

Yet, few of us have learnt the art of embracing failure. We loath it, run away from it and refuse to acknowledge it even when it is obvious. We make it personal and surrender our power to it.

This is partially because we take on the blame and fail to reconcile with the pain, loss and shame associated with failing. We allow it to control our sleep, emotion, health, actions and associations.

In order to live to fight another day, we must know that failure, though a reality, is not the end.

First, do not take failure as a personal assault. Failure in most cases has nothing to do with you as a person. If it did, it would have been permanent. Otherwise how do you explain a serial failure who, rises like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes to become the adored star?

Take for example Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest American presidents. It is recorded that he failed in business at age 21; lost in a legislative race at age 22; failed again in business at 24; overcome the death of his fiancée at 26; had a nervous breakdown at 27; lost a congressional race at 34; lost a senatorial race at age 45; failed to become vice president at age 47; lost a senatorial race at 49; and was elected as the president of the United States at the age of 52.

Evidently, he was not a failure – only that odds were stacked against him and anybody in his shoes would have encountered similar fate.

In business, failure could be caused by several things. You may be doing something the wrong way, the market timing might be wrong, there might be no demand for your products or any other forces beyond your control.

Separate yourself from your business. If it fails, it does not mean you have failed as an individual. Find another venture or use the lesson learnt to turn it round. Personalising failure can wreak havoc on your self-esteem and confidence.

Second, try to learn the lesson objectively. Try to avoid feelings of bitterness, anger, frustration, blame or regret and figure out why your venture failed.

Look for the lessons and figure out how things could have been done differently to get different results.

Third, forget the past and focus on the challenge at hand. Dwelling on the past will not change the outcome. However, you can shape your future.

Finally, do not seek the approval of others. Most entrepreneurs fear losing face and being judged as failures by others more than they fear losing money. This could easily undermine their ability to bounce back.

Mind your own business, knowing that enterprises fail but entrepreneurs don’t.

Mr Kiunga is the author of The Art of Entrepreneurship: Strategies to Succeed in a Competitive Market. [email protected]