Is failure necessary for success?
PRUDENCE: UNDERSTAND RISK AND REWARD
If you want to succeed in a shorter space of time, you must avoid obvious mistakes.
To succeed in business an entrepreneur must do a lot of things right and minimise mistakes. The irony of that is that people usually learn from their mistakes in order to get it right. Which begs the question, is failing or stumbling before success inevitable or maybe even mandatory? Is there no chance at all for one to succeed at their first attempt at business until they make mistakes, fail, learn from the failure and only then succeed?
Some attribute mistakes to a lack of knowledge, because the idea is if you have the recipe in front you, all you need to do is follow it step by step to your success. In that regard, countless books on steps to success have been published and many people have read them in an attempt to prepare themselves for their entrepreneurial journey. However, countless still fail regardless. Why?
It’s simple: it’s like when a child is told not to touch fire – he says “yes” but doesn’t understand why. You might have told him that fire burns, but he doesn’t understand its burning sensation. We must remember that knowledge and understanding are two different things. For example, just because you know we must pay VAT doesn’t necessarily mean you understand why we should.
Therefore, just as a child touches fire to understand what it is, entrepreneurs, too, make obvious mistakes in order to understand. Countless entrepreneurs buy a lavish car or house upon making their first million instead of reinvesting back into the business – and this after hearing countless stories of why that’s a bad idea. But after near bankruptcy I doubt many will make the same mistake twice. Why? Because they got burnt.
If you want to succeed in a shorter space of time, you must avoid obvious mistakes. There are some pitfalls that can be avoided if one stops to think it through. Granted, not everything is in your hands and even the most well thought out plans can fail. But an entrepreneur must have a system where he or she holistically analyses the issue at hand and makes a prudent decision, understanding the risk and reward associated with that decision.
The notion that start-ups are prone to mistakes is incorrect, because even big businesses make mistakes. In fact, that theory in a way gives entrepreneurs an allowance to make mistakes. We are told to embrace mistakes, to accept them and use them to our advantage. Doesn’t that give people an excuse to fail? If failure in order to learn wasn’t advocated would people try harder? Who knows; the point is entrepreneurs must be more diligent in their decision-making process.