Dealing with setbacks, rejections and failures
Starting and running a business is tough! Not only do you have to deal with setbacks, rejections and failures, but you have to self-motivate when times get tough to keep on going. Everyone has different ways that they self-motivate, so this week we thought we’d share a few that our community of startup founders use:
- Connect back to your purpose – Simon Sinek said that to create a standout business, you should start with ‘Why’. What he means here is that you need to connect to why you started your business in the first plane – what was your purpose? When times get tough, connecting back to your purpose and remembering the people you’re trying to help can intrinsically motivate you to bounce back.
- Think lean – When you’re wanting to implement new ideas, try testing them quickly and cheaply first before investing in their implementation. Not only will this save you time, money and energy, but if it doesn’t work out, you won’t feel as let down because you’re less invested.
- Surround yourself with other entrepreneurs – Not everyone understands why you’d want to go out on your own and start a business. When times get tough, try chatting to others who are starting up businesses and who get why you’re taking this risk. You’ll find that they’re more likely to encourage you to keep going and share openly about their tough times so you feel less alone.
- Desensitise yourself to failure – Now this one is a bit left of centre, but as Jia Jiang describes in his TedTalk ‘What I Learned From 100 Days of Rejection’, you can desensitise yourself from feeling awful about failing by simply putting yourself in more situations where you’re likely to get ‘No’s’. For example, try asking a stranger for $50 or approaching your local barista for a free coffee. You’re likely to get a ‘No’ but you don’t lose anything by trying in this circumstance. The more you do activities like this, the more you’ll find rejection washes over you like water off a duck’s back.
If you have any other techniques that work for you when dealing with failure, setbacks and rejections, then please share these with us at hello[at]startupgippsland.com.au and we’ll share your tips in our next newsletter!
Startup Gippsland
- Startup Gippsland
Startup Gippsland is a collaborative project by the Bass Coast Shire, Baw Baw Shire, East Gippsland Shire, Latrobe City, South Gippsland Shire and Wellington Shire councils. Its aim is to support entrepreneurs who have business ideas that can scale to a national or international level.
Startup Gippsland has 3 programs to support startups at different life stages:
- A Incubator Program for early-stage startups to focus, validate and grow their business or idea.
- A Accelerator Program for later-stage startups to prepare their business for scale and international expansion.
- A Open Program of one-off events for startups at all stages to learn business fundamentals like business modelling, pitching and exporting.
To find out more about Startup Gippsland and each of the programs, head to www.startupgippsland.com.au
If you have questions about the program, your idea and eligibility, or the application process, then email us at hello@startupgippsland.com.au or call us on (03) 5644 3321.
Startup Gippsland is funded by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, and delivered by GippsTech.
Great article
Thank you for these tips. The only one I’m dubious about is tip number 4. Although that strategy may work for new business starter-upperers, I think gaining the experience of running a business is enough to teach you, over time, that you win some, you lose some. Over years, I have become used to some quotes ‘winning’ and some ‘losing’. Because I know what my services are worth, when some clients go for a different business that offers a cheaper price, I don’t have a problem with that. The people who want high quality service come to me. I also don’t mind when I inadvertently underquote for a job that proves to be more time consuming than I had expected and ‘lose’ a little money on the job (which still happens from time to time). Water off a duck’s back.
I particularly like the point about surrounding yourself with like-minded entrepreneurs. I would add that surrounding yourself by people in similar industries to yourself (e.g. at conferences or within your industry networks) is also helpful in making you feel supported, and not alone.