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What can we learn from our mistakes in running a business?

08 Aug 2014 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Mistakes form an integral part of our business lives. Some would even go as far as to label the mistakes as learning experiences and rightly so too. Mistakes define our businesses and often, the roads we have chosen over the years.

In fact, mistakes can be more than learning experiences – they can transform us into becoming who we are. If not for the mistakes you have made along the way, you may not know what really is involved in running a sound business. You may not be able to fine tune your business expertise, nor will you be able to understand and comprehend what it really involves.

Mistakes allow us to make better connections, source better opportunities and develop the business on the whole. Mistakes also sometimes allow us to take relationships to another level, empowering us to be able to rise above the very mistakes we have made.

Some mistakes have been in relation to choosing the right person for the job. Often enough, glowing recommendations and skills on paper may be impressive but not so when it comes to getting a job of work done. Many entrepreneurs admit that they have had to discover this, a tough one, often too late.

Many also believe that when it comes to choosing people, your instinct can go a long way. Engaging in a business over a period of time, the experience of managing people, often leaves one with a well-horned sense of instinct which more often than not, can be trusted.

Some business owners, entrepreneurs and career women make the mistake of not saving up right. They may technically save money but it is often enough not optimised in a way that would make the money grow. This is where an investment advisor might come in. Outsourcing areas you are not good at, makes a wise choice - more so, when it involves money and investment.

Brand building
There are yet others who make the mistake of not marketing themselves. They have had good careers, built credibility and achieved gold-star status but nobody knows who they are.

On the other hand, there are those who have achieved very little but have succeeded in building themselves as a brand. People relate more to those who have made it a point to be known, whether rightly or wrongly. Building a reputation and sustaining it takes a lot of work but will yield better results when it gets done.
Yet, some make the mistake of overdoing it. Eager to build success, they would go the extra mile before time to make that extra effort to shine. Too much of a good thing can be bad when it cannot be sustained. The same effort level, the same momentum, when it cannot be maintained, can turn back to haunt your business. It is better to be patient and build it slowly without going into the overkill at the very beginning. Overkill sounds exciting but it is better to settle for a momentum that can be sustained over a long period of time.

One of the mistakes women often make is not counting on the personal leverage being in the business brings. Customers often prefer a personalized touch a woman who is running her own business or heading her own division, can add to the mix. Often, building a good business is all about building good relationships. Sometimes, customers prefer a more specific, friendlier approach that may not be found in a large corporate environment which can be impersonal and too large to be specific.

At the end of the day, mistakes allow us to learn better and to be able to truly grasp what running a business is all about. Every day, new learning experiences enable us to cut and chop what is not needed and retain or build on what is good and what can become even better.

Don’t let mistakes stop you from achieving your end goal – rather, use the learning curve to get things done better.

(Nayomini Weerasooriya, a senior journalist, writer and a PR professional,can be contacted at [email protected])

Features

What can we learn from our mistakes in running a business?

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