Ahhhhh yes……the dreaded four letter “F” word that no business owner or entrepreneur wants to hear.

Fact is, no one wants to fail……at anything……especially in business. I mean, you’ve stepped out on our own, defied the ‘so called advice of our friends and family and took a leap of faith. The last thing you want to hear is “I told you so!” We’ve been taught at a young age that failing means that you are branded a looser, someone who has wasted their time and should just give up. In business, however, failing means so much more and it’s actually a good thing.

 

Well, let me just say, that in marketing, YOU WILL FAIL……and fail miserably a few times. You will try things that will not work, or may not resonate with your target audience. You may get little to no sales and think that what you’re doing is not making sense.

It’s the sad truth!

But before you go off saying that I am just all doom and gloom………I want you to know that failing is actually fantastic because it brings you one step to success.

 

If you’re still trying to figure out this small business game, the long and short of the story is you must fail sometimes. As a matter of fact my mentor says: “You will fail more than you win. But the faster you fail, the faster you’ll get to the win.”

The truth you are still learning what works for business. You are figuring who your ideal client is and if you can provide exactly what they want. You need to know if the market can tolerate another competitor in the industry and what is a fair price to charge. There are so many components to running a successful business and there is no ‘one size fits all’ blue print that exists. There is trial and error and the faster you realize what DOES NOT work for you, the sooner you can find what DOES.

 

Hardly anyone gets it right straight out of the gate. Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, Henry Ford, and the list can go on and on about famous people who failed miserably at first and then rose to take their rightful place in history. You are no exception.

I’m pretty sure at the time however; they felt like it was the end of the world. They probably felt like giving up and had every reason in the world to but they understood that they had to go through the motions and see an opportunity to grow.

 

So how to you transform the look of failure so it doesn’t consume you with a never ending vortex of darkness?

  • Try calling it another name; after all you are testing so call it a test. Understand that you are collecting valuable information for your business and learning what is best for you. It’s all one big experiment and you are determined to get to the top of your class.
  • Use failure as a stepping stone because you now know what does not work and you are NEVER going to do it again. Now it’s time to find out what does.
  • Don’t hide your failures, share it with others. Its valuable content that you can share with your fans and it shows you are human and capable of making mistakes – something people can relate to.
  • Seek support from like minded, business oriented individuals like yourself. They are going through the same as you, so lean, learn and grow.
  • Ask yourself why you got into business in the first place. Get back to that reason and let that propel you forward.

 

At the end of the day, you are an imperfect human doing super human things and you will trip up from time to time. Use it to fuel your business, and understand failing is a form of winning and I know that you are ready to go out there and win!

If you like what you read, feel free to like. comment and share with your tribe via social media. You can also find more information, training and advertising advice in my FREE and private Facebook Group: The New SMS: Strategic Marketing Specialists. Get all the tips you need to stand out from the crowd and effectively promote yourself. Join now: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thenewsms/.