Am I a failure if I accept that my business is failing?
"It has always been my dream to own a business.Tom*
I used to work as a bricklayer and a plumber; and I worked my ass off to save and buy this bakery.
My whole family works here and helps me out.
But things haven't picked up for a while now.
It has definitely been a rollercoaster.
When we decided to do this, we didn't know anything about the bakery business.
Well, I know how to bake.
But how things are going, it seems I haven't learnt what I need to learn, yet
Because, I worked for 16 years in construction.
And I promised you, I've worked harder here in the past 3 years, than I've ever worked in construction.
We're pretty much behind on our late payments.
We're five months behind on paying our utility bills, our suppliers; and still behind on paying the previous owners of the bakery
We had to take another loan on our home. And our savings is empty.
Everything is on our house now. So, if we lose this, we lose everything.
We'll be living on the streets.
But I'm not going to accept that my business is failing.
I know things need to change and I know I might need help to do that.
But accepting that my business is failing means I'm a failure.
All of my hard work can't be for nothing, you know.
I just can't accept that."
Baker and Owner of Bread Bakery
*Names in this article have been changed.
Like Tom, many people do see themselves through their work and businesses.
We build our self-esteem or self-importance around what we do.
For that reason, we never want to hear any critical comments about our work – even when our work is poor.
We rather see it as a personal insult and an attack on our self-esteem.
Which also makes it quite difficult to quickly solve problems and safe things from getting worse.
“it’s not personal“
So, you can’t take it personally.
First off, whether you feel offended or not, you’re responsible for the situation your business is in.
As a business owner, anything that happens to your business is on you.
The situation that your business is in right now, is probably all your fault.
You hired the people. You made the decisions.
In fact, every decision that your business ever made, happened under your direction.
Yes, it’s all on you.
But, always remember that it’s not personal.
Everybody makes mistakes.
Every business owner makes thousands of mistakes.
So, trying to avoid the blame, won’t help.
“the struggle is not failure“
Besides, just because you worked hard to start a business doesn’t mean things will be rosy from there on.
Of course, you started your company with a clear vision for success.
You probably want to build a great business that offers a beautiful product.
A product that satisfies customers and makes their lives just a little bit better.
Most of all, you also want your business to:
- make you money
- be able to run smoothly or run itself
- give you the freedom to live the life you want.
In your head, it was going to be absolutely amazing.
Then, after working hard to make that vision a reality, you woke up one day, only to find that things haven’t gone as planned.
Well, that’s business for you.
It’s a struggle.
But, you’re not alone.
Every great businessperson you know, went through that “struggle” and struggle they did.
As a matter of fact, the “struggle” is not failure.
So, No. You’re not a failure.
But, it can cause your business to fail.
“accept your reality“
Look, it’s a good thing that agree that you need change – that things need to change.
It’s also great that you believe that you might need help to change things.
It’s shows you’re not ready to give up.
But still, that’s not enough.
You see, by not also accepting that you’re failing, you’re basically saying that, “I don’t see anything wrong with how I run my business”.
Well, if that was true, your business wouldn’t be in the situation that it’s in right now, would it?
You can’t change your situation, if you’re not ready to accept your reality or what led you here in the first place.
“nothing will change if nothing changes“
You can’t look for change when you’re not ready to change yourself.
Nothing will change if nothing changes.
And for a business owner, that change must begin with you.
Of course, it might not be everything that has to change.
But, at the end of the day, something does has to change.
Or else, no amount of help can save your business and no hard work will get you out of the “struggle”.
After all, how can you fully put the new changes into practice, if you don’t see anything wrong with how you do things in your business?
How do you get out of the “struggle”, if you’re not ready to accept that, your way of doing things doesn’t work?
It’s Ok, to take pride in your work.
But, rather do it when your business is thriving.
Not when it’s failing.
Small To Sprout 