One of the realities of starting a business is that there’s a chance of failure. Almost all successful entrepreneurs, online or offline, have failed at least once, if not many times. It’s pretty rare to hit it big with your first attempt.
Risk is a necessary element of entrepreneurship, and without risk the reward would also not be there. The risk is what keeps a lot of people on the sidelines, leaving plenty of opportunity for anyone willing to work hard and take some chances.
Whether your online business is a blog, an e-commerce site, a membership site, affiliate marketing, a service of some type, or anything else, failure is a possibility. For most entrepreneurs the difference between success and failure is a major motivating factor that drives them towards their goals. For many of us, dealing with and overcoming failure will be necessary at some point in order to keep moving forward.
Doing Business Online
Fortunately for online entrepreneurs, the internet provides unlimited potential with a relatively low level of risk. Because of this there are obviously millions of people across the world working online or attempting to make money with an online business. The reasons that internet entrepreneurship appeals to you (such as low cost of entry, low overhead costs, no need for employees, flexible schedule, global operation, and unlimited opportunities) have also drawn plenty of others as well.
Reasons to Bounce Back from a Failed Business Attempt:
Most Don’t Succeed Right Away
It’s pretty rare to find an entrepreneur that achieved big success right away. A natural progression involves some failure and the ability to bounce back and keep trying.
It’s What Separates the Successful from the Unsuccessful
If you aren’t willing to pick yourself up and make another attempt, you’re guaranteeing that you won’t be successful as an entrepreneur. Those who are willing to keep going and keep striving for success will be pretty likely to achieve it at some point.
You’ve Learned from Your Failed Attempts
The best thing about failure is that it can be a great learning experience. Most of us learn more from our failures than we do from our successes. Everything that you learn from a failed attempt can be used to improve your effectiveness and your efficiency in the future, putting you much closer to success.
There’s No Need for a Huge Investment
As I said earlier, one of the main reasons so many people are turing to the internet as a way of doing business is because there isn’t really a need for a large investment with most internet businesses. If you’re running a traditional bricks and mortar business and it fails, you’ve probably lost a substantial investment. In order to bounce back and try again you’ll need to take another big risk financially. With internet businesses you can start something new with very little financial risk.
Tips for Bouncing Back:
Keep Your Ultimate Goal in Mind
I think all of us have something that makes us want to succeed with an online business. Money is an obvioius motivational factor, but many of us also desire the flexibility that comes with working online. Whatever you ultimate goal is, try to stay focused on that motivational factor and you’ll have an easier time overcoming your failures because you understand that bouncing back is necessary in order to meet your goals.
Evaluate What Lead to Failure
Failure is only a learning experience if you understand what caused the failure. Rather than jumping into something new immediately, take some time to evaluate what worked and what didn’t. Can you continue to build on the things that worked and make some changes to the things that didn’t work? Find a way to implement what you’ve learned into your new venture.
Build Your Network, Leverage Your Existing Network
Networking is important for any entrepreneuer. Sometimes those who are building an internet business tend to overlook the need for networking because the internet can easily be cold and impersonal. However, building a strong network can help you with any online business that you want to build. Once you have a network established find ways to work with others to use the connections that you have made.
Keep an Open Mind
Try not to box yourself in when it comes to your online business ventures. There are so many different paths to making money online that you need to keep an open mind. You may think you have a particular method that is the right path for you, but don’t be closed to other valid options that may arise.
Get Help When You Need It
One of the tendencies of most people who start an internet business is to try to do everything on their own. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about expenses being a necessary part of doing business online. Most of us are hesitant to pay for any type of product or service that isn’t completely essential. However, there are some services that could truly benefit your business depending on your needs. Concentrate on what you do best and find others who you can hire to take care of other aspects of your business.
Make it Happen
The biggest difference between those who have succeeded with an online business and those who haven’t is the simple act of making it happen. Don’t sit on the sidelines, take action and move towards your goals.
What Are Your Thoughts?
Have you had to bounce back from a failed attempt?
This post was written by Steven Snell.
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30 responses so far ↓
1 Nick Smith // May 20, 2008 at 11:05 am
Absolutely love this post; I wish I could have read this when my first business failed right before my exams in the 2nd year of university!
The best comforting piece of advice I’ve heard regarding failure is “you may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you do not try”. Bear that in mind if things don’t go your way!
2 herpes // May 20, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Thank you so much for this post. It’s a real eye-opener. Had my own share of failed businesses. But all is well now. Earning well. Never give up people
3 Ellis Benus // May 20, 2008 at 4:22 pm
While our American education system does not teach this, in fact they destroy it, making mistakes is the best teacher in existence.
I’ve come up with hundreds of ideas for business and revenue opportunities. None are making me a lot of money. But I have not stopped trying. Every time one fails, I realize one more thing that does not work, and moreover, I generally learn a lot more than just one thing…
Try… Try Again… Keep Trying…
Finally, the best motivation I’ve come across is that the more mistakes you make, the more and more likely you are to succeed at the next one. So I screw up as often as possible!
My ratio can only get better. Good Luck to all!
4 adnan // May 20, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Steven - fantastic post mate. I’ve had a few failed attempts online, many of which including websites which simply failed to take off.
Whilst I learnt a lot through these failures, I now limit myself to going on needless domain sprees, and instead sit back and wait for 24 hours before making any big decisions.
I think the same principles in “bouncing back from failure” also apply to generally improving a blog or website. For example at times when traffic and income is low, try and visualise what you want to achieve with the site and let that guide your decisions and efforts in the present.
@ Ellis - it’s very true that the more mistakes you make, the more you’re learning. Great attitude!
5 Michelle McCarthy // May 20, 2008 at 7:08 pm
This post is fantastic! I too wish I would have come upon it years ago.
Failure in business can be difficult both emotionally and financially. However, if you can get beyond the word “failure” you can see the many lessons - lessons that can contribute to your businesses overall success.
6 Web Success Diva // May 20, 2008 at 11:04 pm
This is simply great. Failure is difficult, but it’s how you handle the failure that means the difference between future success and consistent failure. Great encouraging post!
Maria Reyes-McDavis
7 Steven // May 20, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Nick,
Nice quite, it’s very true.
Ellis,
Yeah, I agree that we’re programmed to hate failure and not to see the positive side. One thing that I think we need to be careful about is giving up on an idea or a business too quickly. Although it’s good to bounce back and keep trying, we also need to give ourselves enough time to realistically see some results. Thanks for your feedback.
Adnan,
Waiting on big decisions is a good idea (unless it’s a great idea that needs to be acted on right away). I sometimes have problems fighting off new ventures and projects in order to keep moving forward with what I have going on now. I like starting things more than I like finishing them.
8 BlogTalks // May 21, 2008 at 6:44 am
I guess the more times you try the more likely you are to strike gold. It is hard to see your site flounder when you have put so much hard work and effort into it. It’s especially hard when you see a similar site so successful when they have clearly put in less effort and just because they have the ‘right links’.
9 Solopreneur, Online Failure Happens, It's What You Do With It That Matters! // May 21, 2008 at 4:36 pm
[...] I just have to share this post, from the Blogtrepreneur about bouncing back from business failure. Business failure is inevitable, if you find a successful entrepreneur that says they’ve [...]
10 Carrie // May 21, 2008 at 8:00 pm
Failure is more of a mindset than an action. You might come to the realization your project is failing, but this can be a useful wake up call to try a different approach to reach your goal.
11 Mike Michalowicz // May 21, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Overnight successes take 15 years… I am on year 14, watch out world!!
12 zowoco // May 21, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Absolutely right, there is no such thing as failure in business, and online our marketing is so much cheaper what can go wrong? Sure you tried something that bombed! So take a good hard look at your offer. Tweak it, offer it to a different market segment, try a new marketing approach, change your angle, commence a new sales page, aim for affiliate success, there is so much choice.
And even offline a company can be merged, sold, incorporated. A product can be marketed to a new market. Barter! Never give up. Learn from your mistake, try again, expect the success you deserve and never take no for an answer!
13 Peter // May 22, 2008 at 1:13 am
i just wrote a similar article on my blog, http://www.YinVsYang.com. It is of the utmost importance to understand that any failure is only a failure if you don’t learn anything from it. Otherwise, it is actually quite useful. Great post!
14 background checks // May 22, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Nice article, inspiring, too. I’ve not been any business before but I do have experience whr I had to bounce back from a failed attempt, and the feeling is great ^_^
15 Noobpreneur // May 23, 2008 at 12:23 am
Hi,
The doing business online part with less investment is the best part of netpreneurship
16 Kenpachi // May 23, 2008 at 5:07 am
Thanks for this long list tips it very encourage me to stand back and move my life again.
17 Ovidiu - GuitarFlame.com // May 23, 2008 at 10:48 am
There is an interesting definition of success, I have read it somewhere. The successful person is the one that stood up after failing many many times, when others didn’t stand up anymore. Or something like this…
18 Stefanie // May 23, 2008 at 5:28 pm
This is a really thoughtful post. I know it sucks to fail, but it certainly puts you ahead of the people who are neither succeeding or failing - at least you have momentum.
19 MarketingDeviant // May 23, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Persisting even through times of failure is necessary for entrepreneurs. If you can get back up and learn from your failures then you will eventually succeed one day!
20 John Edwards // May 24, 2008 at 9:03 am
Failure is a test of character, and having good character is part of being successful. Failure is bound to happen even though you already have achieved several levels of success. Its a matter of preparation and how to pick up one’s self when that happens.
21 Buy Sell Websites Marketplace // May 26, 2008 at 9:24 am
Great Post. Not much to add to everyone else comments but overcoming failure is what separates the winners from losers. Losers are those who stop trying.
22 adnan // May 27, 2008 at 9:39 am
Great responses guys. It seems that everyone has their own little definition of failure, and what it means to themselves to bounce back from a bad situation.
23 Steven // May 27, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Just to clarify, I certainly didn’t intend for this post to be negative or to imply that anyone’s work is a “failure.” To me failure is not meeting my ultimate goals. That doesn’t mean that there is nothing gained if I fall a bit short of those goals. Obviously we all have our own definition of failure. We just need to not get so discouraged when our efforts come up short that it keeps us from trying again.
24 Website Business Broker // May 28, 2008 at 7:24 am
Great article to inspire would be entrepreneurs to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and refine their next attempt! Failure is a misused word - and a mindset - if you see it as an education and learn wisdom from it you will be more enriched and likely to succeed next time
David fairley
25 Flimjo // May 30, 2008 at 2:52 pm
The easiest way to bounce back is to recognize that failure is a learning experience. Figure out what you learned from failing and apply that the next time around. That added knowledge makes repeated failure almost impossible.
26 Carla // Jun 2, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Great post! I am in the process of starting my first e-commerce business and it’s good to know it’s OK to fail - though it would be better if I didn’t! Your post is more motivation for me to get started. Sometimes I get frozen with fear and it’s a good reminder that whatever happens, it’s been a great learning experience for me.
27 Traffic // Jun 3, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Great advice! The prerequisite to success is failure after all
28 Eva White // Jun 4, 2008 at 6:51 am
Amazingly well written post. Makes you sit and think of all that you missed out on and things that one can still do.
29 Rita // Jun 4, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Truly, blogging is way more than just writing a post. I’ve had to learn search engine optimization, a bit of HTML, networking, writing, consistency, patience, advertising, managing my own “business”. It’s a full-on business, really.
30 Carnival of Making Money Online // Jul 9, 2008 at 2:56 am
The up side of failure is you can’t get lower than zero. What’s dangerous is moderate success that makes you wary of taking any risks.
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