4 minute read
PROFESSIONAL GROWTH
Failure is nothing more than life’s way of nudging you and letting you know you’re off course. — Sarah Blakely, Founder and President of Spanx
By Shelly Buckland
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WHAT FAILURE HAS TAUGHT ME
Idon’t think it is much of a secret that I am an entrepreneur, but what I don’t think most people know is that I am
Thanks to s2 art for sharing their work on Unsplash
a serial entrepreneur. Yup, I LOVE starting businesses, or buying them, or just having them! Over the past 26 years, I have owned and operated over 10 businesses. Now, that sounds like a lot, and it is. With that many businesses, you might assume that I have been very successful at them, or at least most of them. But here’s the thing, I have failed at more businesses than I have been successful at, and honestly, it is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
Honouring Failure
Yes, you read that correctly: I honour every failure I have ever had. Don’t think for one second that any failure didn’t hurt - in fact, they all bruised my ego, tarnished my pride and caused me great embarrassment! But that’s okay, because what I gained from all those failures far outweighed all of that.
My first business was an auto trader, and although we were somewhat successful (we could pay the bills and ourselves), when we sold it, I was on top of world. I felt like a real entrepreneur, you know, one who could do anything, and that overnight success was in my grasp. I immediately started a real estate magazine and then proceeded to fall flat on my face. I published one magazine and that was it. I was crushed, and very embarrassed. I thought, “I guess I don’t know as much as I thought I did about business! Now what will I do?” There was one thing that business did give me, which was skills I didn’t have
before. Shortly after that failure, I went to work at a newspaper, with my newly acquired graphic artist skills.
Successful Failure
One day I read an article about how Albert Einstein had successfully failed to find how to make a lightbulb. That really resonated with me, and I wondered: if he can successfully fail, who else has done this? I did some research and found that everyone who is really successful has failed at some point, and I mean everyone. Wow! Ok, if they can come back from this, I should be able to as well.
It wasn’t very long before I was enticed with a new opportunity and started an oilfield business. That took some time to build, but after 8 years I sold it for an amazing price. Again, I was riding high on a huge win, seeing that the hard work had paid off. Feeling confident, I started a video and photo book company, and again, fell flat on my face! You think I would be used to this, but it hurt, and I was so embarrassed. Back to work I went, but it really didn’t last and before long I was buying an existing business to run. This time I was going to make it work, I promised myself. And I did do things a bit differently I worked on myself as well as my business. But it wasn’t working, and I just didn’t understand why. Then one day I was taking a walk listening to an audio book, The Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, and he said that for almost any one to be truly successful you need to be willing to put in 10,000 hours. I stopped dead in my tracks! That’s it! That’s what I was missing. I wasn’t doing something that I WANTED to put 10,000 hours into so I could become successful at it; in fact, I HATED what I was doing. I had to stop and force a fail! Now THAT was embarrassing, but I also felt a small win. It was good to not try to force something I didn’t like.
Over the next few years, I had a couple of different businesses that I really enjoyed doing. I was growing and getting better at them, things were coming together better and faster.
A New Venture
Last September I started Paint of Interest, an art café. All those lessons I learned from my past businesses, from their successes and failures, I am using in this business. And you know what? It’s getting a lot easier. I know more, I understand what to do, and what not to do. The value from those past failures is immeasurable. And I’ll keep taking the bruises, and the hurt pride and embarrassment knowing that I will continue to improve, grow
Shelly Buckland is the co-founder of Paint of Interest Red Deer as well as co-owner of Scotty’s Convenience and Liquor Store. She has been married to Neil for 31 years and she has 3 grown children, Quinn, Trent and Kaitlyn. Shelly and Neil are currently residing in Innisfail while renovating their flip house. She enjoys camping, fishing, hiking and of course working on businesses!
– Anais Nin
TOP 5 LESSONS IN FAILURE
1. Accept that it is normal to fail! Every successful entrepreneur has failed, and they understand its part of the process. They don’t let failure stop them.
2. Use the failure as a learning tool. There is always something to gain from understanding why you failed.
3. Appreciate that you will gain knowledge and experience. No matter if you succeed or fail, you will always come away with that.
4. You can change your direction. A failure is just an opportunity to change directions to a better one.
5. Embrace the entrepreneur learning experience! You will become a better, stronger and more experienced entrepreneur – and no school can ever give you that.
