Failure is a part of life. It is inevitable for entrepreneurs. Whether you have a small enterprise or big, you can lose it despite confidence and hope you had in your efforts. It is painful but not everlasting. Best entrepreneurs are those who deal with failures smartly. More than 50% of enterprises sink in at the end of a year because everything goes against their efforts and then they give up.
Sustaining an enterprise is not as easy as starting a business. Even though you have the right strategy, there is no guarantee that you will succeed. Dynamic nature of the business can hit your planning, leading to a massive loss in revenues. Sometimes it is so severe that you have no option other than shutting it down. Failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue, but these words seem good to read in books – a few of us follow it. You are not a real entrepreneur if you stop pursuing your goals after an encounter of a failure.
Always remember that the pain of failure is ephemeral, but quitting lasts forever.
Failure is not final. Just rise to your feet and start doing what you are supposed to do. Whether you start from scratch or you switch to another stream, you can gradually achieve your goals with dedication and belief in your efforts. Here is how you can thrive even after a complete failure of your business.
Evaluate your situation – where you are, where you lacked and what you can do
Is your business on the skids? Now is the right time to evaluate your situation. Ask yourself why you failed and how you feel about it. Make a list of actions you took to achieve your goals and scrutinise the outcome. Of course, some of your actions have brought your business on the verge of collapse. Note down what accounted for the failure so as not to repeat it down the line.
Consider what you can do to ameliorate the present scenario. As long as there is room for amendment, you should not fight shy of it just because it has dampened your hope. Even though you need to shut it down because there is no hope for rising in the future, you must know your flaws so that you do not attempt them the next time.
Determine cash flow problems
If you do not have consistent cash flows, your business will dry up. Losses often block flows of cash. It is useful if you have a strategy to hit the ground running. However, you will need monetary resources. Analyse your cash flow statements. Find out ways how you can pay business expenses with available resources, stashing away money for futuristic business expenses. You can take out 12 month loans with bad credit provided you have a repayment plan.
However, sometimes entrepreneurs conclude that they do not have the potential to run the existing business and hence decide to invest in new business. First off, you will arrange funds to pay off dues. What you are left with after paying such expenses will be the capital to invest in your new business. If you need more money, business loans are still an option to consider.
Do not neglect your customers
Your current marketing strategy has led to considerable losses to the business. Expenses are adding up, and profits are falling, which is why you are planning to run a marketing campaign or launch a new product. Keep your customers in mind. Tell them your exact financial condition and what updates you are about to introduce. Take their feedback. It will help you know what exactly users want from you.
Find out why the sales funnel is low. Are prices high? Are you not providing higher quality than your competitors? Do they not get support when they need? Focus on all aspects. Sometimes little improvement contributes to the growth of a business. Most of the businesses face failure because they do not keep their customers happy. You should know what they want. It is paramount to build trust among your users.
Generate a new idea and believe it
Though you are suffering from high losses, do not lose faith in you. You have the potential to grow and never stop believing it. “You can” attitude encourages you to accept failure and think new ideas to flourish. Failure, of course, will affect you mentally for a while, but believing in your plans can significantly help you overcome it.
If your idea did not work out, it does not mean you do not have the potential to streak ahead. Sometimes external factors account for a business failure too. Try new things and think strategically to overcome obstacles of your business.
Make plans for the future
Learning from your failure and create a plan for the future. If you make the same mistake again, it means you leant nothing. This is not a good sign. As an entrepreneur, you should know what went wrong and what you need to do.
- Do you need to change your mission and vision?
- Who will be your target audience?
- Which new product would you like to deal in?
If you business faces difficult times, you do not need to give up hope. Instead, you should make efforts to improve the current situation. A good entrepreneur is one who learns from mistakes and does not repeat them down the road.