The world of business is no longer exclusively a male-dominated industry. Business News Daily reports that over 9 million companies in the United States are owned by women, based on the data from the National Association of Women Business Owners. Despite the increase in statistics, women entrepreneurs face more challenges compared to their male counterparts. Unfortunately, these challenges can lead to failure. Granted, this may not be the best experience that any business owner, whether male or female, can go through, but this can help entrepreneurs learn important lessons to help them move forward.
This article takes a look at four ways where women can fail smarter and better.
Take ownership of your own contribution to the problem
It can be tempting to blame someone else for your own shortcomings or ignore the failure completely. However, Menlo Coaching advises that a better approach would be to reflect on your own contributions to the problem. This is a critical first step, because it would give you time to step back and analyze what you did wrong so you can avoid making the same mistake all over again in your future endeavors.
Take ownership of your own contribution to the company’s successes
At the same time, you should also take ownership of your accomplishments. This does not mean that you should rest on your laurels; rather, a post on LinkedIn suggests it will help you gain the self-confidence that you need that can help you move forward. All too often, failure can make women depressed and insecure about whether they can continue on with their chosen career path, or they may beat themselves up over the issue. Looking back at your successes will help you realize that you have experienced your own victories in that area, and that will help you gain the motivation to continue on.
Don’t get defined by others
Whether you’re an employee working for a company or you’re an entrepreneur starting your own business, it is important that you work at your own pace instead of comparing yourself to someone else. While this can serve to motivate you to strive to improve your craft, Business Insider says this can also serve as a trap that can lead to failure. This also holds true if you trip up along the way. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you need to rise up at the same time as someone else who experienced difficulties as well. Each person can set his/her own pace. Instead of concentrating on what others are doing, you need to find your own identity and your level of comfort in progressing towards your goals.
Learn from the experience
Instead of beating yourself up over the failure, you can instead glean lessons from the experience and use it as a springboard to better things. Cheryl Han, a co-founder of Keaton Row said in an interview with Elle that it is how you respond to failure that determines how you will improve. All workers and business owners know all too well that they will experience bumps in the road during their career. Your response to these problems will determine whether your firm will continue to stay afloat or your career progresses. Instead of taking the failure to heart, you can instead stand up, dust yourself off, and try again.
