Celebrating Failure

I’ve never understood why failure is condemned and success is celebrated. The reality is that success is what you define it to be, not what others think it is.

Imagine you just made a meal for your friends, and the main dish is an absolute failure. It’s too spicy, not spicy enough, not hot enough, overdone/underdone. Would you say, “That’s It! I’m done cooking!” and never walk into your kitchen again?

One thing we know for certain about working with entrepreneurs is that they don’t quit — they just start over with a bit more caution, time, or understanding of what actually needs to happen.

Celebrating a failure is particularly critical for startups. You learn, adjust, and launch again.

Consider, while you launch your business, that your product, service, or pricing might not be what the customers wanted. They might want different packaging, they might be willing to pay more than you think. The truth of what might cause your business to fail is not a reason to quit. Although you might realize it’s a good time to stop what you are doing, our belief is to learn from what mistakes you made on the first, second, third, or fourth try, and keep moving forward with your ideas as they are adjusted.

I say this because in my experience, entrepreneurship is a practice just like medicine. No one knows the answer and you…