I failed today. It felt pretty good. It was a relief.
Always trying to grow my businesses, I often offer to help someone solve a solution.
In this case I’d recommended someone else for a job that I didn’t have time to do; someone I’d met in overseas who was starting out in offering web development.
But then the client wanted a bunch of design elements we weren’t expecting, that she wasn’t prepared for.
It was a challenge, which forced her to do a lot of research and learn a lot about coding, but the client got impatient and asked for a refund.
The first time I gave a refund, it hurt, a lot. After all the time I’d spent working for someone… then to give them their money back… it’s painful.
But now it’s easy. It lets me off the hook. It’s usually a stalled project that isn’t going anywhere and won’t end positively, that’s causing me stress. In this case – since I’d recommended a friend, I felt responsible even though I wasn’t paid for the work.
Some things just don’t work out. She could have finished the work with some more time. The client could have been more flexible about what he wanted for the site. It’s nobody’s fault… just not a good all around fit. It happens. No hard feelings.
I refunded his money personally.
This is what I’m figuring out about entrepreneurialism, whether it’s selling a book or marketing your art:
When you think of great ideas and try to do big things, sometimes you’ll find yourself in uncomfortable situations.
All you can do is be fair and honest, stand behind your word, make the client happy, apologize to everybody involved, and move on.
Be willing to fail. Be willing to assume the responsibility and take the blame – it gives you power over the situation. Fix it as best you can.
Failing a lot means you’re trying a lot. I’m taking much bigger risks now than I ever have before. I’ll throw a thousand dollars in one direction or another, develop multiple site and business ideas at once. Some will fail. Most will fail.
But I only need one good one to succeed.
As Derek Silvers says, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot!” Success, as most people view it=Ripe=Rotting! When things are easy and you’re comfortable, you get stuck. You stop being creative. You stop being challenged.
Don’t Rot.
Failure is good for you.
“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
Image from Funders and Founders
I’m a philosophy dropout with a PhD in Literature. I covet a cabin full of cats, where I can write fantasy novels to pay for my cake addiction. Sometimes I live in castles.
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