Walking victorious from setbacks

‘When you start living the life of your dreams, there will always be obstacles, doubters, mistakes and setbacks along the way. But with hard work perseverance and self-belief, there is no limit to what you can achieve.’ __Roy Bennett

Unlike any other days of the week, this one was peculiar with a sudden glance of the reality that I was back to square one. Startled for a moment wondering when did it all happen...how did it go wrong...what did I not do right… and with not much of an answer as per my mind being soaked in distress and an empty head of course. My mind could not but replay the voices of people’s advice whenever I shared that I was into business, I could hear all the “Go get a real job, the business is a waste of your time” …” You are not cut out from the entrepreneurial line” … “Oh my that is a terrible idea” … “I knew this would happen but I didn’t want to hurt you by telling you the truth, you were so excited” … and so on and so forth. What’s ironic is the fact that everything just happens so fast that you miss out on the possibilities of it all happening and boom this particular day it all unmasks in broad daylight. It’s funny knowing your destination but the journey to get there is unpredictable and honey, it’s a bumpy ride.

‘Every setback is a pit stop en route to nirvana.’ __Stewart Stafford

A day or so went by as I condemned and felt sorry for myself being bitter and angry which by the way wasn’t fruitful. But as they say it’s important to have your moment to feel sad and angry, crying and all just to wash the pain away. With quality time spent in prayers, I came back to my present and critically started to analyze my situation. Turns out this checkpoint was significant to keep the business in track. Took some time with my partner to re-visit all the documentations of the business and the why to the business existence in the first place.

‘A setback is never a bad experience, just another one of life’s lessons.’ __Steve Harvey

No sooner did it come to my attention that it was a learning phase and as an entrepreneur I’m prone to learn in each and every phase. The big question would be, ‘How prepared am I?’ As much as I was in business for two years, it was not a justification that I had mastered my way of doing things. I have learnt that regardless the knowledge I had of my business, the principles still stand and not merely feelings and illusions of the future. The major lesson was to calculate the costs thoroughly and entirely without secluding any cost versus the projected income when it comes to major business decisions like expansion or adapting to a newer model of doing business. And of course, venturing in small with thorough evaluations every step of the way. This is key in redirecting your course before it turns out into a massive one-day explosion.

'The beautiful thing about setbacks is they introduce us to our strength.’ __Robin Sharma

As the saying goes: You can never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have. Gathering new strength after a number of evaluation sessions resulted in a new strategic plan for the business. We strategized and planned the next phase of the business by narrowing down our ‘should haves’ to ideal milestones of the business at present. At this point we have everything in writing which helps with the regular evaluations. Now, with the lessons learned and their application ‘Excelling’ is the word to explain the present and future of my business.

‘When we believe, trust and take direction from the perspective that our setbacks are in fact setups for success, then it increases the likelihood of future victories.'  __Charles F Glassman

With a sober mind, I am grateful to have been in this situation to figure out now and get a glimpse of what might happen in the future and when it does how will I respond to the situation. As much as it is okay to have a moment of distress to let the pain away, pulling oneself together is often the best way forward. And once you’ve realized where it all went wrong the key isn’t anger, blame, condemning, or giving up but rather figuring out what would’ve been done better. Thus, planning and strategizing for the next course of your business is geared from the ‘should haves’ from your past experience.

I must say, with the entrepreneurial arena experience is the best teacher one can ever have. Reading articles and books principles; and listening to great entrepreneurs’ talks and stories is one thing and enough knowledge to get you started on your entrepreneurial journey but the magnitude of joy caused by success and distress caused by challenges are better experienced than read. The business idea might be the same, business model the same but experience differs. What solution works 100% for your competitor might work 50% for you or not all.

So, setbacks aren’t after all a grave mistake one has committed but rather an opportunity to learn, a diversion from the not to be course, a check point to refuel your energy and will power or maybe a whole new setup.

‘The ability to bounce back after a setback is the single most important trait an entrepreneurial venture can possess.’ __Richard Branson