Failure logic
One of the hardest decisions
to make when trying start your own business is knowing when to pull the
plug on a project that has hit its failure point.
A normal reaction to any
failure is to feel discouraged and defeated. This is wrong on so many
levels and if untreated can result in a toxic overload of despair.
A well documented failure can
yield the kind of raw data that just can't be worked out on paper or a
computer. Knowing a path is wrong helps to exclude that approach and
guide you in a more finely tuned direction.
When we first moved to rural
Virginia I made an attempt to revive a small video production business.
The idea was to video tape local parades and sell DVD copies to the
hundreds of parade goers that wanted to see their family and friends on
that big day.
We got excited when the first
check came in, but there was only one check after that, which didn't
even cover our newspaper ad. Factor in the extra effort it took to
drive to multiple parades and standing in the freezing cold with a
video camera and you can see why we decided to call it quits.
That experience helped us to
gauge the local market and prompted us to try a completely different
approach to making money. I wouldn't want to count how many failures
I've had over the years, but each one had it's own lesson, and if you
can see the big picture you can understand how quitting something that
doesn't work is not giving up but just shifting directions.
Photo credit goes to HowStuffWorks.com
for the awesome parade picture.
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