It can be very tempting to just walk away from a failed project in our business operations. We may be aggravated, embarrassed or frustrated and just want to forget that we ever did whatever went wrong. But, there is a great deal that can be learned from going over our failures and figuring out exactly what went wrong, and why…
It is actually a good idea to do a “post mortem” for failures in our home business–look over the details and try to figure out if it was something we could have controlled, a matter of the economy or marketing, or a personality issue that contributed to the failure. I know it may seem like you are wallowing in negativity, but if you have the right attitude and you are looking for ways to make improvements and make sure that mistakes don’t get repeated. After all, many of us learn more from our mistakes than we do from our successes. Looking things over closely increases the likelihood that we will learn and know how to do things differently next time.
So, what sort of things should you look at when you are evaluating a failure? Consider the steps you took, preparation activities, the timing in the market place, any supply or vendor issues, key relationships, the overall economy, and other details. It might even help to jot things out or create a “map” of the project in order to see where things went wrong. You may find that it was something minor that could have been controlled, or you may learn more about the “big picture” in order to choose a more favorable climate in the future.
The idea is not to be hard on yourself or beat yourself up, but to use a business failure as a chance to make positive changes and get your business headed in the direction of new growth. Evaluation is a key part of recovery.
Also: Coping With Skeptics
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