My first business failed, but guess what? That’s okay. Failure only becomes fatal when you stop trying. My experiences trying to establish myself as a successful entrepreneur made me realize that failure should not stop a person from pursuing what sets their soul on fire.
When I was 15 years old, I started a clothing line that failed. I later realized that starting a business isn’t that easy. I was fortunate enough that my dad himself was a businessman who inspired me to make a name for myself. I decided to observe and be more hands-on with my dad’s business, which has given me the opportunity to pick up some lessons on how to run a company the right way.
I tried to avoid failure as much as I could, but then reality hits: it’s impossible. I initially refused to believe that it was due to incompetence and lack of experience, but I realized that failure is essential to recognize success. The drive of becoming a successful entrepreneur kept me going, and I surrounded myself with like-minded individuals and focused on what actually mattered to me. I may have gotten off to a bad start but I’m still proud to find myself doing things that most teenagers at my age don’t get to experience. Yes, I started young and experience a lot of failures but I don’t regret anything. I have learned now how to spend smart, make better decisions, and focus on more important things in business.
Here’s how I use FAILURE as a MOTIVATION:
- Develop a strong personality
Never put yourself down. Trust me, it won’t help you. Praise yourself for having the courage to try instead of comparing your journey to anyone else’s. You made a bad decision? Get up! Don’t waste your time regretting all your wrongs.
- Admit your mistakes.
Dwelling on failure is probably the worst way to deal with it. Accepting that it is a part of the process is very important. There’s no “undo” button in life. I have learned that we should always be accountable for our choices, decisions, and actions. We need to determine what went wrong and learn from it.
- Ask for help.
Accept the fact that you can’t do it alone. Knowing when to ask for help is very important and having a chance to delegate creates a special kind of trust and appreciation from everyone involved. A piece of advice, insights and/or opinion from someone might be a big help for your next step. They could provide ideas that you probably would never have imagined.
- Prepare for the next battle.
Failure is not the end of your career. Failure is an opportunity for you to understand what mistakes were made and come back stronger with a better plan of action. There is nothing better than failure to learn, it shapes you as a businessman and makes you pay more attention to details. After identifying my mistakes, I made sure I’ll never repeat them again and started planning for my next approach. I realized that it was the best time for me to turn my weaknesses into strengths. Through failure, I learned life lessons that success could never teach me.
- Let go of FEAR.
Letting go of fear made me realize that reality isn’t as bad as my imagination. After that, I decided to not let it have power over my emotions. Failure is not your identity and you should never be afraid of it.
- Begin Again
It doesn’t matter if it took me years to start again and finally get it right. The important thing is, I did. Starting again is never easy but it’s definitely worth it. Today, my company Emirates Graphic has become one of the leading digital marketing agencies in Dubai and is now expanding in Saudi Arabia.
There is a common saying that says “Failure is not an option” – but in my case, I use failure to motivate myself to work harder and make better decisions to move forward towards success. Failures are lessons. This may sound cliché but using it as a motivation really does work, at least it did with me.
