Overcoming Failure as a Small Business Owner

Do you know that the intense fear of failure is strong and common enough to merit its own term? The word is atychiphobia. According to Cleveland Clinic, people with atychiphobia may avoid situations where failure is possible, even if that situation could improve their lives (e.g., a relationship or a career change).

Small business owners and entrepreneurial types may feel immune from atychiphobia. We tend to embrace risk and change. Even so, we are not immune from business failures; if you’ve not experienced one yet, it’s only a matter of time.

Thankfully, for every failure, there is a road beyond it. Failure can often be our fastest and surest teacher, but we need to develop a plan to benefit from its lessons.

To drive home this point, I’d like to share one of my business blunders as well as a sure-fire formula for overcoming any mistakes, screw-ups, or washouts you may encounter in your business journey. By having a plan in place, you can feel confident in your resilience when facing failure.

A Story from My Journey

I still remember how exciting it felt to finally be a full-time freelancer. I set up my workspace, developed my schedule, and purchased health insurance. I dreamed of the life I wanted to have, made long and short-term goals, and started searching for clients.

And I found some! But they weren’t the ones I was looking for.

My first “clients” were copywriting content mills eager to take almost any writer under their wing. Now, while nothing is wrong with writing for a copy mill, this route was the wrong approach for me. The assignments I received gave me practice, but they took away time I should have used to pitch to clients in line with my goals and specific skill sets. I realized I took the work out of a scarcity mindset rather than trusting that my process would lead me to my target clients.

After a few exhausting weeks, I realized that I had worked myself into a corner and would need to make some sort of change.

Stop, Drop, and Roll

Do you remember the “stop, drop, and roll” rule for fire safety? It’s also a highly-effective formula for course-correcting business failures. Below is how I used the process (as well as the story of how things turned out for me).

Step 1: Stop

The first step in course correcting a business failure is to stop. Some losses are significant and obvious; others can be hard to pinpoint. A good rule of thumb is that if something feels off, it likely is.

Taking time to stop and consider the facts is vital. After all, if you don’t know what went wrong or what is going wrong, how can you know how to take new action? Don’t ruminate on this step, but definitely spend time on it until things are clear enough. Stopping also protects you from going further into error and gives you some distance from the situation. If you don’t have a solution yet, don’t sweat it. The first step is to identify the problem. Write it down and trust that a solution will come.

Even if your failure is something you can’t undo, you can always understand why it happened. As you take time to stop, this is not a time to blame yourself. Look objectively at what led to the situation and what you could have done differently. Consider any unsettledness, pressure, or stress to see where they might come from.

In my case, I first recognized my failure by feeling like something was “off.” I took a day to consider why I was feeling stress and pressure, and I realized that using copy mills as part of my scaling strategy wasn’t working for me. I did some additional research about the type of copywriter I wanted to be. I took notes on what they did to achieve success and decided to pursue a similar course (which did not involve copy mills).

For those of us with strong drive, stopping may seem or feel like a failure. Don’t let short-term discomfort keep you from taking stock of your ways and going in another direction.

Step 2: Drop

“Drop” is the step where you release whatever created the problem. Examples of things you may need to drop are:

• Actions
• Habits
• Mindsets
• Protocols
• Workflows
• Schedules
• Clients
• Employees
• Career Path

As you can see from this list, dropping can be challenging and even emotionally draining. It’s fine to take the time you need to make sure that you should drop something, and if the dropping includes a layoff, how to go through the process with grace and tact. Regardless of the difficulty, dropping is essential to get different results.

For me, “dropping” involved writing to the copy mills to go through their withdrawal process. This felt scary to do at the time because I did not have other writing employment. I don’t typically enjoy endings, but I knew that breaking these ties was essential for my long-term success.

Step 3: Roll

“Roll” tends to be the most fun because it involves going forward into what is new. It may involve instating new measures to avoid future pitfalls. It may involve onboarding a new employee or trying a new self-care habit. “Rolling” often leads to either reassessment (if things still aren’t working) or recovery (once you’ve found the right solution). It takes humility to try something new, but the results are almost always worth it. This is a great time to tap into your creativity and resilience and enjoy a new life!

For me, I focused on targeting the types of assignments and clients I wanted to work for. I changed my workday to applying for copywriting positions and making client pitches.

My Continuing Story

Stop, drop, and roll worked for me. I no longer work for copy mills and instead work for Luneer Mgmt and a few other wonderful clients. Writing is incredibly rewarding, and I love that it is now one of my primary income streams.

Choosing work that didn’t fit with my long-term business plan is neither the first nor the last mistake I will make in my life; however, it is one that I chose to learn from and use to catapult me into my desired direction.

Failure and You

Failure is not something to be feared. Failure is rarely pleasant, but it can be a fantastic catalyst for change. The next time you have a business failure, stop, drop, and roll your way into recovery.

If you need help during the process, don’t hesitate to contact a reputable business team for coaching or guidance. Luneer Mgmt can analyze your situation, help you identify what isn’t working, and implement solutions for change.

WRITTEN BY: KATIE BARNETT