To be a successful entrepreneur, you must learn to deal with failure and there is no way around it. Thomas Edison attempted more than ten thousand experiments before finally unveiling the first incandescent lamp on October 21, 1879. Bill Gates' company, Traf-O-Data, failure. Michael Jordan was once quoted as saying: “I missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 310 games. 26 times I was hoping I would take a shot to win the game; And missed. I have failed alot in my life. That's why I now succeeded. ”
In my short time as an entrepreneur I have failed more than I can count. I too have had my share of success, but it is not close to equality. Failure far outweighs success, and I am convinced that I have many failures ahead of me. That’s right because I know that as soon as I stop failing, I stop trying to invent new things. It is the nature of the business to be an entrepreneur, and success in general.
Studies have shown that successful entrepreneurs possess these characteristics:
I. Self-confidence
This is that magical power of having confidence in oneself and in one’s powers and abilities.
II. Achievement Oriented
Results are gained by focused and sustained effort.
III. Risk Taker
They realize that there is a chance of loss while achieving goals, yet they have the confidence necessary to take calculated risks to achieve their goals.
If it were that easy, everyone would do it. It is foolish to think that all the good ideas you have will result in a successful business. I've never heard a businessman say that “everything I come up with seems to work.” Most likely, you hear something like "I failed in my first 5 businesses before this one started." Think about that a second time. Five businesses. Sometimes the number is three, sometimes 20, but the important point is that many entrepreneurs do not hit home with their first company. It really amazes me - how many people have stones to fail five times and start a sixth business? You have to be extremely confident and treat those past five times as a sixth learning experience. And if the number six fails, you should do the same and move on to number seven.
In my opinion, the most important thing is that how you deal with failure. Once you accept that it is inevitable, you can learn from your mistakes and move on. It is easy to allow failure to consume you - not so much because you have no hope, but much more because it is difficult to see something that you have poured your heart and soul into that can be ignored or rejected.
As soon as possible you need to realize that your businesses is what they are rejecting or ignoring, NOT you. The sooner you do that, the sooner you can analyze why you failed and learn the things that you need to do in the future. Failure is not easy and very frustrating, but it is a necessary part of success. Can you believe me? Ask Thomas Edison, Bill Gates or Michael Jordan! Okay, asking Thomas Edison might be difficult, but you get the idea :)
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