Turning failure into opportunity – 6 things to rember
1: Try to change the way you think about failure:
We experience many things both before and after failure. With the right attitude we can use the lessons learned to our advantage. But only if we don’t dwell on our failures and mull them over and over in our minds. If we can change our attitude from a loosing mind-set, it’s easier to not sabotage ourselves repeatedly. When we move on, we free ourselves up to grab a hold of opportunity when it re-presents itself.
2. Cheap is not the same as inexpensive
What appears to be an inexpensive alternative may not be. Cheap has more to do with quality and ability to perform than it does cost. Many times ‘cheap’ may save you money, but can eat up too much of your time and the ultimate frustration when it fails to meet its intended result. Then we spend more money on a replacement (and clean up the mess cheap leaves behind). Many times our failures can be attributed to taking the cheap or easy way. It may not be a matter of delivery of your product or service, but with the quality.
3. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
The apparent success of the “other guy” can be deceiving. Sometimes we need to copy our competitors success. However, their success may only be a mirage (like sacrificing profit margins by under-bidding everyone else, or going deep in debt just to keep up appearances). Copying another business model may lead us to move outside our strengths, divert our attention and waste our precious time. Business expansion is great when it works, but can also kill a company. If you do decide to change physical locations, especially abroad – Don’t underestimate cultural differences, communication styles, contract negotiations and any legal consequences (since codes, laws, rules, and regulations may change dramatically even one state over).
4. No one plans to fail, most just fail to plan.
Like the saying goes – One hour of planning can save 4 hours of work. Sometimes failure is simply not thinking things through beforehand. This is why a business plan (even a simple one) can help keep us on track. I often have to remind my students that: “our brains forget, but paper does not:. Writing things down helps us organize our thoughts, think through possible problems, focus our attention on whats important and just how we plan to run our business.
5. We fail, but are not failures
Life is supposed to be full of surprises. If we always win it wouldn’t be a surprise. We should not allow ourselves to be defined by our failures. Others may remember, but our job is to accept our failures, deal with any lasting negative emotions and then move on with our lives. Learning from them, not controlled by them. In the end, our failures can bring about other opportunities. If we allow ourselves to move beyond and continue to jump on the opportunities that are bound to come our way.
6. Contacts and Networks are greatest chance for future opportunities.
Although we may have failed, we still have the people, resources, information and experiences we gleaned along the way. For example my business failure in Singapore also lead me to a contact person who was instrumental in helping me become a Univesity Professor in Korea! So don’t burn all your bridges, keep in contact to the people you met and continue to build the networks you started. They might just lead you to a better opportunity.