CHAPTER 7

Mindset on Failure

Failure—An Unintended Unfavorable Outcome

In the mindset of an entrepreneur, there is no such thing as permanent failure! Sure, there will be disappointments and setbacks, and things may not go as planned, but none of these can make you and your organization incapable of a comeback. The best way to fail is to learn from it. There are just some things you cannot learn without journeying down the path that leads to disaster or disappointment. In the end, you will have gained a better understanding of what doesn’t work, which gets you one step closer to what does work.

Deemed as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Michael Jordan once couldn’t even qualify to play for his varsity high school team. It took Thomas Edison over 1,000 attempts at inventing the light bulb. That means that he failed at least 999 times before finally getting it right! Colonel Sander, founder of the famous Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise, once resorted to sleeping in his car while trying to sell his recipe to various restaurants. After being turned down over 1,000 times, his recipe was finally accepted at the age of 65, which ultimately led to him starting his franchise. Besides having an amazing mindset on failure and obstacles, another great trait that all three of these extraordinary individuals share is self-determination, which will be discussed in detail in Chapter 12.

Let’s face it. No one likes to fail. There is nothing enjoyable about it. However, no one is spared from failure. It will visit everyone’s business at least once if not multiple times. Along the way, you will pick up lots of nuggets of wisdom that you might not realize are going to help you perform better in your next level in your business. Often times, it may seem like you wasted your efforts and you are staring at the collapse of your business. It can be a real damper on your confidence and, depending on its magnitude, may cause you to feel hopeless. You must be fully convinced that what you learned from your failure can be used as leverage while you move on to the next level in your business. You have to get back up, apply what you’ve learned, and keep moving forward.

Failure reveals your strengths and weaknesses as an entrepreneur, as a business entity, and also as a person. Being able to recover from a failure develops your resilience, which is required to prevent you from giving up. With every recovery, you will gain renewed confidence that you have what it takes to bounce back in the event of another failure. A new opportunity to succeed awaits on the other side of the failure once you have gotten past it and learned your lessons. The fear of failure begins to dissipate with each rebound.

Failing is often more valuable than succeeding. You will have proved to yourself that you had the courage to try and that fear did not get the best of you. One thing is certain—there is never any success without trying. If you are not failing then your dreams aren’t big enough. Accomplishing normal-sized dreams is much easier because they don’t require as much time, money, effort, skill, or sacrifice to attain. So if you have ever failed at anything in the past, rather than allow it to stop you from trying again, be proud of yourself for at least making the attempt.

Noteworthy Entrepreneurs Who Made a Comeback After Failure

Daymond John—You might know him now as the multimillionaire Shark Tank TV star judge and investor, but Daymond John overcame many obstacles to achieve the success that he’s known for today. He launched Fubu, a clothing line in 1989 in his early days as an entrepreneur. Struggling to keep his business afloat, John was forced to close Fubu not once, not twice, but three times. He finally found his stride as an investor and the business mogul of The Shark Group. He now has an estimated net worth of $250 million. John is a perfect example of what resilience and hard work can do. (Belanger)

Vera Wang—After failing to realize her dream as an Olympic figure skater, Wang redirected her energy into another passion—the fashion industry. Her dreams were crushed once again after she was passed over for the editor-in-chief position at Vogue. Her tenacity finally paid off when she decided to launch her own fashion line of bridal wear and a ready-to-wear department store line. She is a household name in designing wedding gowns, many of them designed for celebrities and public figures. Wang is proof that when one door closes, another one opens. Opportunity can come in different forms if we are patient and refuse to give up on our dreams. (Valentine)

Com Mirza—Although he may not be a household name to many, this CEO of Mirza Holdings runs a reported nine-figure empire with more than 600 employees. Eight failed companies is enough loss and disappointment to make any entrepreneur quit. Mirza instead developed an unshakeable determination.

Failure teaches you the essential missing parts of the jigsaw to learn to reach real success. When you own your failures and take responsibility, you gain immense power, wisdom, and maturity. Have an open mind, immense intestinal fortitude, and a deep sense of purpose to conquer the struggles, adversity, and obstacles. (Com Mirza)

Failure comes to teach us all valuable lessons that we cannot learn in a textbook, a class, from a parent, a coach, a mentor, or from any other second-hand source. Some failures are tailor-made just for you. Only by experience can this great teacher show us what we are made of. It will test our strength and at times cause temporary disappointment, but its purpose is never to defeat us. I’m here as a witness to tell you that I would have never seen the global expansion of my business had I quit after countless obstacles, mistakes, and failures. Embrace failure when it shows up in your business. Become a student of it and apply all of its lessons during your next attempt. You’ll be better off for it.