Fighting the Fear of Failure for Youth
In nearly every outlook of business, strong morale is inherent to success. Albeit, while triumph in such professions is indeed rewarding, commerce has a “go big or go home” mentality which requires hefty investments of time and money. Unfortunately, the social pressure of kick-starting an initiative only to see it stagger and crumble has become a fear for many peers my age, and the thought of failure is now one of the greatest impediments to youth partaking in the fields of their interest.
Worldwide, numerous young adults have broken this barrier of cynicism by working to create a powerful brand image. Mikaila Ulmer was only 9 years old when her enterprise, Me & the Bees Lemonade, struck an 11 million dollar distribution deal with the supermarket company Whole Foods Market. At 14, Fraser Doherty became the founder of the jam company, Superjam, which has grown to supply over 2,000 supermarkets around the world. Australian changemaker Ben Pasternack built several successful online projects in his adolescent years such as Impossible Rush, the teen-targeted app Flogg, as well as popular video chat platform Monkey, which generated nearly $2 million in venture capital. The instances of juvenile achievement are limitless.
There’s no need to sugar coat the topic at hand - industry competitiveness is commonplace in entrepreneurship, and for a great majority of small business owners, disappointment and frustration will be a first-hand experience. However, the troubles lie when our youth neglect innovation out of self-doubt and submit to being raised as nothing but workers. Children have become accustomed to taking safer routes in life, further fostering a fixed mindset which is petrified of bravado and boldness. Global markets thrive on economic participation, and thus for youngsters in Canada and abroad, I call on you to take advantage of your early years and to remain tenacious and tireless in your endeavours. Failure is an opportunity to learn and better oneself and should never be a limitation to intuition.