Are your past failures haunting you?

by | Aug 11, 2016 | Conscious Business | 0 comments

A few days ago I was chatting with a friend and together we brainstormed some ideas to grow her online business.

This woman is smart, creative and loves to nerd out on numbers and systems. You got it, she’s a rare talent!!

She is also a gun in a niche market that so many business owners need support in- myself included! Basically she’s in the hot seat for her biz to fly.

But she’s working around the clock for a large range of clients and isn’t making much money.

As you can tell I love this gal but during our chat I kind of wanted to slap her and tell her to just get out of her own way.

But the thing is, she’s haunted by the belief that because she’d failed in the past she’s destined to fail in the future. In essence she’s carrying the burden of two failed start-up businesses, including a house full of unsold stock, and it’s weighing really heavily on her.

She even mentioned that her dad ran failed business after failed business and maybe she was destined to be the same – perhaps it’s just the way she was.

My advice?

Past failure does not equal future failure….. 

We’ve all made mistakes in business and life and I’m certainly included here.

In my first online business, Sustainababy, I initially had to get the website custom-built (WordPress and Shopify just weren’t available or as capable as they are right now for ecommerce), which was an expensive exercise.

When I had the brilliant idea to launch eco-living ecourses in 2013, I went straight to my (expensive) custom web developer to have them slap together a sales page ….when in hindsight I should have spent the time to investigate WordPress and build one there.  I was keen to get this program out into the world and I was impatient and naïve in the steps required.

Needless to say this was a very costly mistake….. like a $10,000 mistake (or learning I prefer to say!).

After my second round of Home Detox Boot Camp I decided to separate it from Sustainababy (as the ideal customers were different) and I invested in a custom-built (WordPress) membership site to house the course content… securely. This move was the right move, but I’d already shelled out around $15,000 for a sales page and affiliate capability through Google Analytics (all custom built) that I no longer needed…..

In a nutshell, around two thirds of the revenue I made from my first three rounds of Home Detox Boot Camp (I’m talking around $25,000) went to my initial, and subsequent web developers. #ouch

But did I for one minute think that any future biz venture I touched would be unprofitable or waste so much money?

Hell no!!

I’ve learned from these mistakes and take more time to cost out and investigate options when I’m building new programs in my business. Let’s just say I’m working smarter.

There’s plenty more non-business examples I can think of as well……

In 2007 my husband and I purchased a block of land in regional Victoria, not too far from where I grew up. It was our dream to build here and enjoy the lifestyle of having the beautiful Gippsland Lakes right on our doorstep.

During the GFC the developments all around our block went bankrupt and land values have plummeted.

We’ve been trying to sell our block for over 12 months (for less than half the price we purchased it for) and haven’t even had one bite. In addition, this block (and its mortgage) is draining our family cash flow by around $2,000 each month, which is extremely hard for us to carry.

Even if we did manage to sell our block, we’d be left with around $120,000 owing on it…. #doubleouch

But does this stuff up mean out next venture into real estate will fail??

Hell no!!!

We’ve just sold another property that increased $250K in value in the ten years we’ve owned it. We’ve sold it to help fund the build of our new home in Adelaide, where we hope to move at the end of 2017.

It would have been easy to say let’s not buy and build. We stuffed up so much last time….  and that error has probably put us back 10 years…. We’re not meant to own a home, in fact, let’s just rent….. there’s no risk of stuffing up again then….

But we weren’t having a bar of that.

We’ve gone in smarter, more strategic and have sought more advice before taking the jump.

And I think it’s going to work out just fine.

As for my website errors. I searched far and wide and switched web and graphic developers to one that suited exactly where I was at in business. And it’s a dream partnership.

So…. what major business or life stuff ups have you made in the past?

Where are they impacting you in your business or life, right now?

What can you learn from these mistakes to make your business and your life more successful?

Because mistakes aren’t failures….. they’re just learnings……

Now, I’m going to tell you exactly what I told my friend who was haunted by her past failures.

Step out of your own way and have another crack, this time with experience and hindsight in your toolkit. I bet you’ll fly higher.

P.S. If you’re feeling paralysed by your past failures and want some clarity on your plan to succeed in future business ventures, join the FREE Conscious Biz Creators Community on Facebook.

 

Laura
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