Reviving a Failing Startup & Key Take-Away for Entrepreneurs
What is the best way to rebound from a failed startup? Originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
If your startup is failing or has already failed, then join the group. You are an official entrepreneur. Failure is not a bad thing but instead more of a purging that differentiates the one timers with the true Entrepreneurs. Most all successful entrepreneurs have failed at some point. Even the ones that look as though they have always succeeded have failed in some of their projects. Failure is almost a rite of passage for true entrepreneurs on their way to success. A metal is not really its finest until it has been purged in fire. Failure and trials act as fire that will make us not only better entrepreneurs but also better people. The Midas touch in business is something that comes with time and luck (which is when preparation meets opportunity). The biggest thing that you can get from starting any business is experience not money. But money is always a really good extra. Here are some thoughts on some of the top rewards from actually starting a business.
Top rewards of starting a business: From an Entrepreneur’s perspective
1. Experience
I have started lots of companies and have helped many people start their own. I received an MBA later in life but I soon realized that my life experience far outweighed the education which equated to a seasoned PHD in business. In my MBA classes the professors would have me lead lectures on my specific experiences in business and how it related to the text. I soon realized why one of my mentors suggested I wait on grad school and get real life experience in business as it would make the text relevant. In saying that I think that experience is by far the greatest reward an entrepreneur can get from starting a business. I often tell my clients when I sit down with them that my experience in business has afforded me many opportunities that I would not have experienced from a traditional job. If I lost everything and was placed in the middle of America, I know that with my experience I would have a great deal back in six months. Look at what you have learned and take that with you in your next endeavor or just in life.
2. Money
This is a second reward one can receive from starting a business. Money as the good book says “answers all things” and is a good reward from all your labor. If your company is not making money, then it is a hobby or a cause both of which have a different purpose. Money can help you to help others as well as yourself and can place you in a position of strength as an entrepreneur. It is not the amount of money that really matters but instead that your company is making some money after expenses to help you on your way. I placed money after experience because money in and of itself is just an amplifier that will only amplify your current state as a person. Money will make a good business better but given to a bad business will only delay the inevitable. I had two young people that I counseled that received a large amount of money from investors before they really knew what they were doing and wasted $200,000 before they got it right. Get the money but make sure you have the wisdom in place to put the money in the right area.
3. A Story
In life we are a sum of our greatest battles both the ones we won and lost. What good movie do you know that only ends in happiness, triumph, and success. There is not one because it would not sell. It would be very boring. Most people are tired of hearing from those that make the world think as though they make no mistakes. They know this because they know that everyone has failed and probably will fail at one thing or another in the future. I tell people all the time that failure is not the problem the issue is how you react to the failure once it comes. When you have a story that has a lesson or value that can be transferred to others it makes you more valuable as a person. Starting a business gives you an opportunity to go out and create a story regardless of the whether the story ends in triumph or defeat.
