Choosing to live the entrepreneurial life means embracing failures and occasional setbacks. They are great sources of wisdom to bounce back and improve your business with the new perspective you have just gained. Failure has been so common that it is imperative that entrepreneurs should be aware of how to handle it. These are the four most common business setbacks and how to get over them.
Loss of Reputation
Since the beginning, we’ve emphasized the importance of customer satisfaction and customer service in any given business. It gives paying customers an incentive to come back or recommend your business to their friends. Loss of reputation could come from bad customer service, accusations from other rivals, or an exposé about your company.
Losing reputation may be disheartening at first. If this ever happens to you, try the waiting game. Hire an SEO agency to help with the first page of the google search results. This is a long process; you need to be patient. In the meantime, focus on improving your business. Own up to your mistakes. Come up with a way to reposition your stance on issues surrounding your business. Introduce improvements to your product or service. This shows the world that you have learned from your mistakes.
Personal Problems
A tragic loss in your family or circle of friends is a painful event in our lives. Grief could get a hold of our focus and drive to accomplish tasks for your business. Some institutions offer a bereavement leave period. In the same principle, it is important that you take some time off your business during a tragic loss. See if you could hand operations over to someone else from your team.
Take time off your business and put your mindset in order. You have to believe in yourself that what you do matters.
Loss of a Major Client
It emotionally and physically hurts when you lose a major client. Someone whom you have worked with for a long time and contribute to the majority of your revenue. If a major client decides to pack up, express your unending gratitude to them. Then, work double-time on your marketing efforts.
Ask them what things you could have done differently. Have an honest and genuine conversation with them to find out your areas of improvement. If their departure isn’t about your services and more about their priorities as an institution, ask them for testimonials. You could use these to display on your website and in sales in the future.
Team Dynamics
Part of a business is the dynamics of the team working behind it. Startups are functioning in high-stress and fast-paced environments. Sooner or later, tensions may arise from the multiple personalities involved in the business. Research even suggests that 65% of startups fail because of interpersonal tensions among the team.
A common spark that ignites flare-ups could well be what’s underneath the surface. According to Esther Perel, a psychotherapist, a common question she asks is “What’s the hidden issue?”
She said that there are three categories of hidden issues: 1) Power and Control, 2) Care and Closeness, and 3) Respect and Recognition. If these categories are surfaced as soon as possible, tensions may subside.
A key to preventing and resolving such issues is taking the lead in fostering a healthy workplace. This is the time where you need to be the leader in the group. Try things that could build strong relationships in the workplace. If you could, arrange some sort of team-building activities for everyone. This allows employees and other leaders to spend more time knowing each other beyond paperwork and business.
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