Businesses fail all the time, and some entrepreneurs learnt this the hard way. No matter how much you try to avoid failure, however, it can happen.
In fact, only a handful of entrepreneurs made it big without experiencing massive failures first.
But take it from some of the most successful entrepreneurs today who rose up from their failures and succeeded in the business. Not all failures are bad.
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Not all failures are bad
Co-founder of Twitter, Evan Williams, started a podcasting platform called Odeo that folded shortly after it was launched. But Twitter did not suffer the same fate.
Sir James Dyson first developed more than 5,000 failed prototypes before he developed the bagless prototype of vacuum cleaners. It was the product that launched him to major success.
Milton Hershey started three different candy companies that all failed before starting the most recognizable Hershey’s brand.
The list can go on and on, but the fact remains that these entrepreneurs are big names in the market today.
So what failures can you learn from them?
Lack of customer validation
Before you launch a start up, or even spend big money on its development, check if any of the customers want what your company has to offer. Failure to validate your product idea with your target consumers is a failure waiting to happen.
You may think your business is perfect, but if your target market disagrees, then your company is doomed from the start.
Failure to value partners, co-founders, and team members
Entrepreneurs must admit that certain capabilities are beyond them if they want their offline or online business to succeed. Having partners and team members, however, are not enough.
You must work with the right people so that the business moves in a direction that everyone agrees on. Don’t be that company that had to be sold for pennies because of disagreements between co-founders and partners.
Lack of aggressive push
Some of the most successful salespeople are those who are pushy, extremely aggressive, and will not take no for an answer from a potential client.
Without aggressiveness and a passion to succeed, a business is sure to fail. Aggressive selling of a product or service is the key for a start up to pan out and sustain its place in the market.
Lack of funds
Raising funds takes time and hard work. But if you don’t invest in the process, you will not have the investment or the capital to build a start up and pay off the numerous expenses that come with it.
There’s no way a business will succeed without enough funds.
Losing track of the financials
How many non-paying and paying clients do you have? Are the paying clients providing you with enough revenue to stay afloat? It’s one thing to line up hundreds or thousands of customers, but another to ensure each one of them brings in the cash.
Lack of long-term goals
For a business to transition from start up to a big company, they need to set long-term goals. There must be initiatives to sustain a business before branching out to another location.
Many entrepreneurs tend to have many open fronts, don’t. Focus on one venture and scale it, if it doesn’t work move unto the next. You can’t be everywhere.
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