If you are struggling in your business or dealing with business failure right now, I understand that you may feel a bit uncomfortable reading this article. You might think about moving your mouse pointer or ready to tap on the ‘X’ symbol on the top-right part of your screen, but STOP! Before you do that, please bear with me for a moment, as I have a message to tell you.
Overcoming struggles is not easy. Facing business failure is tough. But if you have the right reason to do so, you will find success. How do I know it? I’ve been there. Let me explain.
You see, failures are important parts in our success. In fact, successful entrepreneurs and business owners become, well, successful because they have faced their fair share of failures.
Let’s just say that without failures, you won’t find success. Just ask Thomas Alfa Edison, who failed 10,000 times before he finally invented the light bulb. Or, just ask Sir Richard Branson, who was deemed as ‘hopeless’ because of his dyslexia, but kept on trying to become one of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs and billionaires.
Okay, let’s forget the public figures for a while. What about your local small business owners? They have overcoming struggles and thrive.
More amazing small business stories here, brought to you by Spark Business℠ from Capital One®: http://unr.ly/1p2Fiha
Perhaps I can inspire you with my own story…
I have my fair share of failures, and at times, I thought about giving up. Thank God I don’t.
You see, I owned two business service shops (UPS Store-like shops) and employ 18 employees. Initially, things were looking up. The shops were doing well in the first two years, but suddenly, everything fell apart. It was 2008, and the global recession hits hard on businesses. Along with poor management, I had to close down the business.
I have a family to support and failing to do so is the least thing I want to happen in my life. Unfortunately, the reality needs me to make tough decisions.
Now, if you ask me, what I would do next, honestly, at that time, I didn’t know what to do. I have three options: Go back to the workforce, start a new business or just give up.
As I mentioned above, you need to have the right reasons to overcome your struggles and failures. I have my own reasons not to take the third option: Giving up. Here are my reasons:
I HAVE to be in business because I can’t handle a job. A cubicle feels like a torture chamber to me. I can’t go back. I just can’t.
I HAVE to stay in the entrepreneurship path because with entrepreneurship I can impact more people and make more money.
I HAVE to keep on trying because I want my kids to watch and learn how their father deals with struggles and overcome them.
I HAVE to be an entrepreneur because I want to be an inspiration to the people I love
So, I have to take a deeper look at myself. How I can turn things around. What my passion is. Which ways I should take.
I always have a thing with the Internet, and I’m always amazed how people can make money online doing what they love.
Before I finally closed down my two shops in 2009, I have actually started my journey in online business as a side business. It’s not easy.
I failed. A lot. But I have my own reasons to keep on doing it. I continue to find ways and learn new things. I just can’t give up. My family depends on me. I depend on me. If I gave up, who would make it work for me?
Then one day, I found what was a cool word at that time: Blogging. It’s a trend at that time, and I jump into the bandwagon.
I know how to build a blog, but I don’t know how to blog. I don’t know what to blog about. And on top of all, I just don’t like writing.
But I learn to love blogging, and thanks to my mentors, I build and run blogs as a business. I also set up a marketing agency. Things are looking up for me.
Have I found success? I personally think that I haven’t. However, I have reached milestones that get me closer to my goals, and I shall continue to reach new milestones.
My message to you
If you are in the midst of business problems and you are thinking about giving up, listen to me: Don’t. You’ll regret it.
It’s okay to feel sad, angry and stressed out. Take your time, but don’t feel that way for too long. Your loved ones depend on you and giving up won’t do any good for you and the people you love.
When you have overcome your failure, get ready to pick up the pieces and move on. Let’s move forward. Don’t look back. You have to find your reasons to carry on, and be on a mission.
Remember, you and I need failures in order to achieve success. Failures keep us grounded; failures keep us learning. Embrace failures and keep on trying. You will soon see great things are happening in your life and your business venture.
Good luck in your endeavor!
Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by Spark Business℠ from Capital One®, but concerns my own opinion. This is the third post in a series of eight.