the hundred dollar business

Image courtesy of GypsyRock.

In a conversation a few months back, I was asked,

“How do you keep from getting downhearted when startups go wrong?”

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It’s an interesting question because if you embark on an entrepreneurial project, no matter how small (even the $100 ones…!) the odds are always stacked against you.

More than likely, you’re going to experience some big failures. I have– you guys know this already. And even though those times of failure are by no means pleasant, here’s my underlying thought on how to put entrepreneurial “failure” in its right context:

(This is what I’d replied to that question.)

“It’s fun. You accept it as a roller coaster & don’t take it personally. You accept the uncertainty and focus on the creativity & fun of it.”

“You see failure as an opportunity to strengthen a weak area or try something different the next go around, so success or failure is on a continuum that goes forward– I may have failed on one project, but i won’t on the next, or the next.

“Don’t isolate any one problem or event as “the end all” failure– I think that’s why i like it.”

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So, how do you frame the possibility or reality of failure in entrepreneurship– so that if/when you encounter it, it doesn’t snatch away your belief for the possibility of success in the future?