According to the Small Business Administration or the SBA, only about 80% of small businesses survive its first year. However, this doesn’t really mean that only small businesses are affected by their failure. It’s also found that 70% of businesses in general only make it beyond 10 years.
There are many reasons why a business could
fail. Some of the most common reasons for this would be the owner’s and
employees’ lack of experience, insufficient capital, poor inventory management,
lack of planning, and even unexpected growth.
Before a business is considered to have
failed, it first undergoes a setback. It’s really how the business owner and
everyone else involved in the business react towards the situation is what’s
important. A business should have a mission and a vision to keep in mind to
keep it going.
Read – Effective Marketing Strategies Used to Market a Small Business
If you’re thinking of venturing into business or you already have one, it’s possible that you are already thinking of how to deal or cope with business problems or setbacks.
Whether you are just anticipating a setback,
or you think your business is going through one, here are the things that you
should keep in mind for you to not just give up.
How You Can
Easily Recover from a Setback in Business
#1. Think of the Setback as a Challenge
Experiencing a problem in your business
should always be expected so that you’ll see yourself and everyone else
involved in your business as prepared. A setback shouldn’t immobilize you even
if you aren’t prepared.
Critical thinking is vital when your
business is experiencing a problem. You need to condition your mind that a
setback isn’t the end of your business. It’s more of an important part of your
business that you need to take care of.
#2. Identify
the Root Cause
Part of critical thinking is identifying
the cause of your problem. Root Cause Analysis or RCA could either be done by
you or an expert.
Making sure that you cover the possible
reasons why such a problem occurred in your business can help avoid repetitive
problems.
Also See – How to Prevent a Business from Failing
#3. Learn
from Mistakes
Whatever the problem is, it’s most likely
because a mistake was made. Whether it’s your own mistake or not, you should
know how to learn from it. Make sure that you avoid the same mistakes from
happening again.
However, this doesn’t mean that you
shouldn’t have mistakes anymore. The CEO of Coca-Cola believes that mistakes
should happen as having no mistakes mean that they are not trying hard enough.
This is true because innovation is important to your business and with this, mistakes are bound to happen.
#4. Deal
with the Problem Calmly
Your emotions can easily affect your
critical thinking and your ability to make decisions. Having a switch to turn
your emotions on and off could help.
You should be goal-oriented when there is a
must, but make sure that you still are human at the end of the day.
When Erik H. Gordon, the CEO of a venture capital investment company called ErGo Ventures LLC encountered a legal issue he was still calm about it and decided to fight for the truth. He ended up winning a harassment case from a former employee and still managed to be professional even if he was done wrong.
#5. Seek
Help When There is a Need
Lastly, if you find yourself stuck in a rut
and just don’t know what to do about the problem that you have, you should know
when it’s time to seek help. Due credit shouldn’t be your priority.
Making sure that you solve the problem is
what you should focus on, and if it requires the involvement of other
professionals or people, you should ask for help. Never feel like you should
face your business problems on your own just because you’re the CEO or the
owner.
