It’s not a bad thing that you have failed in the past, what matters is how you have dealt with it. Your attitude and response to these situations will make you stronger and increase your character as you learn over time. Don’t be afraid to fail, otherwise you’ll never succeed, just take it from these guys.
“Failure is critical to innovation. Fail fast on smaller bite sized risks that won’t kill your company, and the knowledge gained on each iterative step will eventually deliver you – success.” Matt Sims”
1. kingoflimbz
20, 000 in the bank and a $3000 per month contract gone.
You need to be a salesman, or at least act like one. You have a business which means you have something to sell.
You will go crazy with anxiety if you lose your first contract in less than 30 days and I completely did. Lost it all, except for my family of course.
5 years of recovery and I’m still here, better than ever before. Gong through all of that has taught me so much and while it didn’t feel like it, I knew that it was supposed to happen for me to achieve success.
Don’t get me wrong, I have failed more times in those 5 years but it was with less risk each and every time and it was less explosive when I did fail. I spent 3 months working on a dud product that no one ended up wanting at one point.
You need to know your market (and if you have one) before you start going out there and making the product or giving out the service. Your world could be very small, though it feels large. Do the research.
2. SnappyPup
Don’t ever give up and get disheartened with anything that is happening in your life! You will need to kiss butt and do things you don’t want to succeed but this is how it gets done. Always treat your customers better than your family and watch them come back time and time again.
After a great conversation and time spent negotiating a deal, my client didn’t get back to me after 7 months. I quit after that and noticed that the email he sent me a few days later was worth thousands of dollars! I gave up two day earlier and lost the opportunity to really get a start in my company. It won’t come quick and it won’t come easy but give it your all for a long time, and you WILL see the results. Stay in touch with your customers and potential clients to make them know you are professional and you are interested in the work. It may be a testing tactic they are using on you, who knows?
I ended up getting a gift card for his local area and send it to him with a beautiful handwritten card. After months of calls and emails with no reply, this tactic earned his trust and work again, with my company the one he always turns to for a job. Never give up
3. Oax_Mike
Don’t start unless you really are ready to do whatever is necessary for your business. Tenacity, hard work, sacrifice, late nights, and no money are just a few staples of starting small businesses. You can’t ever give up! Many businesses that do end up failing aren’t because of the business itself, but because the owners give up to easily. Wait until you are 100% ready to do what it takes, then get out there and take it.
4. SpicedApple
1) Sales is a compulsory aspect to running a business. Answer a question, fix a problem, or provide information as to why your customers should choose your company.
2) Always know how to do EVERYTHING in your business. Should an employee need to go for any reason, you can always cover the spot until a replacement is found. It’s also a great way for your employees to not take advantage of you. Think about it.
3) Have a strategy for EVERYTHING! Ways to cut costs, deal with liabilities, exit strategies and the like are all things you will have to practice or keep in place to deal with things.
4) Learn to say yes when it’s profitable and good for you and learn to say no when it isn’t working.
5) Never invest more than you can afford to lose or you will spend the next 5 to 10 years working for some loser to pay your debts off. Act as if it is a must that your business succeeds and remember that there isn’t much money in it, so sacrifices will have to be made, not credit card payments.
5. bobbonew
Be VERY wary of business partners! They may (or most likely will) screw you over if they get the chance. Business partners are not your friends or family and they will always look out for themselves in the end. Be careful about who you choose and make sure there are arrangements in place to cover both of you should something happen. Lazy partners will be the death of your business so get the whip cracking or get them out of there.
