Age Old Proof That Business Failure Encourages Success
June 13, 2007
There’s no doubt that business failure encourages success. According to Brian Tracy, the average millionaire goes bankrupt 3.2 times before he becomes successful.
It’s never too late to stop trying either. Adam Khoo’s blog has a fantastic post about a businessman who went bankrupt at the age of seventy two. Instead of resigning himself to failure, he went on to build another business, selling it at the age of 82 for $4.2 million. Now, that’s determination for you.
Building a successful business is a hard game to learn, and often, the only way you can learn is by your own mistakes. The problem is, many books which teach you about business success are written by those who’ve never ran a business themselves, so they don’t bother to tell you about the potentially huge mistakes you might make along the way.
Personally, I’ve made some massive mistakes, and often I’ve been hanging on by the skin of my teeth. For example, at one point, I got carried away trying to generate new business, without the staff in place to cope with all the work coming in. We were up to our eyeballs in work, and far too busy to chase debts. At one point, I was owed £250,000 (almost half a million dollars). Naturally, by then, I was struggling, as there was no cash in the bank to pay for the resources we needed to carry out all the work coming in.
This was a bad situation to be in, but you can bet your life that I won’t make the same mistake again. This is why business failure encourages success, because many business people screw up so badly along the way, that they’re determined not to make the same mistakes again.
Comments
2 Responses to “Age Old Proof That Business Failure Encourages Success”
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Successful And Outstanding Blogger
So true!
Because I failed, I’m going to repeatedly make the same mistakes. Right? And I’m going to put myself through the same hellish existence and carry on doing all the things I learned were wrong to do?
Wrong!
There are sharks out there who make a habit of fleecing all of us by deliberately working the system and re-starting failed businesses with no intention of ever genuinely succeeding.
Then there are the silent majority who fail, and with their failure goes the lessons and mistakes that could have raised a phoenix and led to real success.
I am determined to buck this trend. I shouted my failure from the rooftops. To everyone. Very unlike people in the UK where failure is unforgiven more than anywhere else (I suspect).
So far it is working. Brutal truth and honesty still has a place. Why should I shy away from it because society tells me to?
So far several advisors have been completely wrong. Don’t hide away. Even in an unforgiving environment. People still respect and reward honesty.
Check out my blog. Not because I want to earn from clicks or whatever. But I want as many people who have failed or about to fail that there is real hope.
And if you have a widget thingy that emails your subscribers, please do so. There is hope. And there are (newbie) bloggers like me who just want to spread the word. I have raised my phoenix from the ashes and have a battle on my hands to keep my home and resurrected business.
But I will succeed and I’m determined that people see it can be done. And that more people try rather than throw away everything they have learned.
Sorry for the rant! Just feel very passionate!
Ian – that is so true. Most people from the UK will treat you like a leper if your business goes bust. Yet in America it is perfectly acceptable to go bankrupt 3 times before you become a success.
Your blog is brilliant, and I hope it will inspire more people who have got into dire straits with their business.
I don’t have one of those widgets to email my subscribers, but I’ve added you to my blog roll and I’m going to do a post about your blog.