The Truth About Failure In Business
Most business owners think failure is the end. They’re wrong.
Real talk — sometimes I look back on the last 3.5 years of running my consulting firm, and I can’t help but feel a tinge of regret.
Why?
Because there are decisions that, in hindsight, seem sooo obvious — yet at the time, I struggled with them.
And there are times that I’m really hard on myself because I didn’t see the red (or orange) flag associated with Client A or Team Member B.
Here’s what I know for sure: business can be messy.
As much as people like to share their wins (including me), the longer I do this work, the more I’m convinced that success in business is really all about failure.
The key question is: how do you deal with failure?
What do you do when a client you’ve been building a relationship with for 4 months decides to “go with another option”?
What happens when you have a superstar subcontractor who keeps missing important deadlines?
And what do you do when you plan out a full marketing launch for a new product, but end up with 1/10 the interest you expected?
To most people - dare I say non-business owners - these situations would all be viewed as big failures.
But your response to each of them tells me a lot about the long term viability of your business:
Can you set aside your ego and trust that, even though you didn’t get Client X, you know another great client is just around the corner?
Can you have the hard convo with your team member to acknowledge it’s time to part ways?
Can you step back and examine your launch and make a messaging tweak or two to ensure you’re meeting your potential clients at the right level of awareness?
Because this is what’s required. If you’re not doing these things, your business may not survive the hard stuff — and that’s the truth.
And here’s the wild part — because business is inherently messy, people on the outside often won’t understand your journey at all.
Here’s what it probably looks like to them lol:
Entrepreneur tries stuff.
Some of these efforts work out. Some don’t.
Entrepreneur tries other stuff.
Some of these efforts work out. Some don’t.
Repeat…
The thing is, your business is a living, breathing thing. And what do living, breathing things do?
They grow, evolve, and change in response to outside stimuli.
So, if your journey feels full of failures and challenges right now, know that you’re not alone — I’m right there with you. Times are tough, and there’s a lot of uncertainty in the world today.
But here’s what I know for sure: you are not a failure.
Because success isn’t about avoiding failure — it’s about pushing through it. So keep going. Even when it’s hard.
Especially when it’s hard.