Guest Blog by Karen Wessels, co-founder of VA Connect & co-founder of SnappSales
For a startup venture, setbacks may be the name of the game, especially in the beginning phases. You’re still learning the ropes, understanding your market, finding the right team and wrapping your mind around building an empire. As a startup, in order to focus and enjoy positive results and to move forward, it’s all about how you, as the Founder of your business, need to manage these setbacks. Do you take them in your stride? Or are you riddled with fear and anguish for days because things didn’t work out?
I’m here to help you set the record straight. Not only should you embrace setbacks, (sounds really strange, doesn’t it), you should see each setback as a learning opportunity. This is your chance to grow, to really prove yourself and make a huge success of your startup. These are opportune moments to test your mettle, to rise to the occasion and show the rest of the world what an amazing business you’re building.
So, what is the best way to deal with setbacks? I’ll share with you a few of my favourite ways to manage setbacks and turn them into opportunities.
Take a deep breath: This may sound like it’s completely sensible and this thought should come naturally. Until you’re in that moment, when panic starts to rise and you forget everything sensible about the world! Don’t allow the first reaction of retaliation or anything non-constructive to take over. Rather walk away, breathe, reassess the situation, and once you have a better perspective and understanding of that particular setback, come back with a constructive way of dealing with it.
Go back to the drawing board: Whatever it is that may have gone wrong, figure out exactly what it is that went wrong, why and where it went wrong. The more data you can gather on figuring this out means a quicker and more seamless way of getting back on track. Sometimes it’s necessary to start from zero. If that is the case, then work with what you have to make it better than before.
Ask for advice: Get outside opinions from other entrepreneurs or business experts. Why? They don’t have an emotional connection to your business or a vested interest, so their opinion will be genuine and totally non-biased. I like to call it a “2-degree angle change”. Sometimes this is all we need – someone that we can talk to and trust that will help us get a better perspective on things.
Show acceptance: Perhaps the best way to deal with a particular setback is to have acceptance. Don’t deny the fact that it happened. Have a proper attitude and acknowledge that it has happened. Work out how to remedy it to prevent this from happening in the future
Learn to deal with setbacks in a healthy way. Make use of the tips provided, deal with the disappointment, take from it what is needed, and move on to the next one!
Karen Wessels is the co-founder and COO of VA Connect, a South African virtual assistant platform that provides outsourced administrative support; and is also the co-founder of SnappSales, a company that generates quality sales leads for its clients. Prior to establishing both her companies, Karen spent over 10 years in different sales, marketing & admin support roles. This experience has equipped her with the invaluable skills required to run her two successful business ventures. Follow Karen on her Personal Website | Twitter | Facebook | Google+
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