Many times when so called experts and consultants talk about what they do it’s all based on all the successes that they have had and all the testimonials they have acquired. However I think it’s important to also recognize the failures. As a business owner myself I understand the difficulties of running and growing a business. I’ve been involved in 11 different start-ups and I have seen my share of failed companies and made the mistakes that drive companies into the ground. I think the most important thing I have learned is that you must learn from failures. I have learned much more from the companies that didn’t succeed than I ever did from those that succeeded, I was able to step away from the failed businesses and look closely into why they failed and what I could have done differently in order for it not to happen again. I’ve tried to put the lessons learned into the next business and continue to improve and learn as I go.
I believe the success in any business lies in the ability for the owner/entrepreneur to learn from their mistakes quickly and to be able to quickly pivot on those mistakes and turn them into positives. They must be able to identify what isn’t working and then come up with a plan to reverse or change things that aren’t’ working. As I work with businesses throughout the country I see entrepreneurs that are so intent on their business idea being a success that they are blind to the things that are derailing it, I understand, I’ve been there! I remember starting a company that did reusable grocery bags, it was a great idea and it received a lot of great interest but in the end the market wasn’t ready for it and what we missed was that the market was the end user and they needed to be educated not the stores that were selling it. And so sometimes an idea is a great idea but the market isn’t ready for it and that’s a hard pill to swallow for most entrepreneurs. Had we understood that early enough we could have pivoted our marketing more toward the end user and educated them on the benefits and we may have had a chance.
I understand how difficult it is these days to have a successful business and I am very fortunate that entrepreneurs call me into to help them understand what’s going on in their businesses and one of the first things I look at is what has failed and why? And then what can we do to pivot on that failure to improve or fix it. In closing, understand and analyze your failures, they are the greatest business building tools you have!
As founder and president of The Pinecrest Group, Mike Ferrell has worked with many companies in hiring, training, and managing sales forces as well as creating and implementing business and marketing plans for over 20 years. He has been involved in eight different start-ups and worked with companies as small as one to as large as 500 employees.
He has spent the past 10 years training, coaching and consulting with business owners and sales people on how to grow their businesses using his unique Business Funnel Approach. His keynote presentations, seminars and workshops have been attended by thousands of business people throughout the country.
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