The freedom of being a business owner also comes with a heavy responsibility to grow and sustain the business to support ourselves and our employees. As hard as we may try, the truth is sometimes businesses don’t work out. There are many reasons businesses fail, but one reason that we understand first-hand is issues of profitability. SMG Business Services was born out of a desire to support business owners after Silvia’s first business venture, a manufacturing company, closed. You can read more about her story here, but after shutting down the business, Silvia focused on managing finances for businesses and how to make them profitable. While finances may be our focus, the big lesson we’ve learned is that failure is not the end. Failure is a beginning, strengthened with lessons learned. So, to support you along your path, here are a few strategies we’ve learned to handle those difficult moments.
1. “If at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again” (🎵 Aaliyah’s “Try Again”). Failure will happen, it’s inevitable, but what you do after failure is what matters. So take care of yourself, listen to your favorite upbeat anthem and try again.
2. Fail early and often. Better than waiting to fail is trying to fail. Yes that’s right, try to fail. When something didn’t work, you learned something. Think of your tasks and projects as small experiments and incorporate every lesson learned into your next endeavor.
3. Pivot. Every failure is an opportunity to change direction. When one path isn’t working, ask questions. Learn about what is working and what isn’t, and use that information to set your GPS toward a new destination.
Combine all 3 strategies and you’ll find that making small changes along the way can save you a lot of headaches. We understand that the thought of failing is dreadful, even unfathomable, so use these ideas to manage fear and tackle your business head on! Remember that you’re not alone. We’re passionate about supporting you in growing your profitability to ensure longevity in your business. Feel free to ask us about Profit First Cash Flow Consulting today!
