Our topic this month is 'Failure Sucks, but Instructs!'
I wasn't sure if I wanted to reflect on things I'd failed at first, hey come on... would you?! But of course everyone has had that moment when something you tried failed and it cut straight through to your core. But no matter how brief a moment it was, it's never a truly bad thing if you can pick yourself up and learn from it and that's how I look at things these days. Obviously there is a difference between the things that really went badly wrong and smaller mistakes, but in basic principle the lesson is the same... it's the details that make it bigger!
In business, yes I've made a few mistakes sure who hasn't... like the first time you have a package go missing (which is very rare, but can happen)... the first time you dealt with this, did you do everything as you do it now? No, probably not... my refund/exchange/lost package service has been modified countless times over the last 3 years, like most small businesses and now I hope I have most bases covered... although I'm sure something new will pop up in the future, inevitable it will.
There's also the time you invest in stock you think will do well, but it doesn't budge for ages, or you do a private order and forget to calculate your costs correctly... or you get fancy with a formula in your stock spread sheet and then weeks later find that it doesn't quiet calculate what you thought you were asking it to and you spend hours trying to sort it out! Or what about the time you make a decision on colour theme for the season and find that your customers don't quite like that shade of orange red... 'Can you do it more pinky red?' Or what about showing at a show someone invited you to show at... flattered, you accept... research shows it's borderline your 'thing', but you take a chance and pay out and later realise that the show just wasn't right for your product after all! Yes, come on admit it every small business (and even some big businesses) make these mistakes... I think that's why they call it a learning curve, not quite the same sting and FAILURE!!
I think my biggest mistake as a small business was paying a joining fee to sell on a shopping platform, on the promise of how they were planning to lead the site, which was a much more handmade feel than it is now (mass produced boutique product)... yes I fell for a sales pitch! At the time my handmade items were going well and so looking at the site as it was then, I thought there was the prospect of selling... maybe less than on other sites, but at least enough to recover my costs. I signed up and weeks later found that the site dramatically changed in the opposite direction and the fees had gone up! Tied into a contract I could do nothing, but notch it up to experience... a much bigger lesson learned! Ignore the sales pitch, if they want you bad enough they will wait for you to do a few months of research into their site... and hey, with so many platforms not asking for a joining fee... why are they?!
So yes, failure sucks, but it should also instruct... that's what keeps us moving in the right direction.
Sara x
http://www.sarastexturecrafts.com/
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This post was part of a blog Merry go Around, where I have got together with some friends to talk about a similar subject on the same day... a nice way to meet people!
Jenny at Jenny Karlsson design http://designjennykarlsson.blogspot.com/
Wendren at Wren http://thewrendesign.com/
Sara at Sara's Texture Crafts http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com/
Charlotte at Fancy Picnic http://fancypicnic.blogspot.com/
Lily at Lily Pang Art http://lilypangart.blogspot.com/
Marianna at Florcita http://florcitasart.blogspot.com/
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com/
Fabienne at Easterya http://easterya.blogspot.com/
Ruth at Birdland Creations http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com/
http://www.sarastexturecrafts.com/
----------------
This post was part of a blog Merry go Around, where I have got together with some friends to talk about a similar subject on the same day... a nice way to meet people!
Jenny at Jenny Karlsson design http://designjennykarlsson.blogspot.com/
Wendren at Wren http://thewrendesign.com/
Sara at Sara's Texture Crafts http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com/
Charlotte at Fancy Picnic http://fancypicnic.blogspot.com/
Lily at Lily Pang Art http://lilypangart.blogspot.com/
Marianna at Florcita http://florcitasart.blogspot.com/
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com/
Fabienne at Easterya http://easterya.blogspot.com/
Ruth at Birdland Creations http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com/
