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Financial setbacks can be discouraging, but when you take the time to step back, look at what happened, and create a detailed plan for your next business plan, you are more likely to experience success in your future endeavors. Around one in 12 small businesses close every year, according to statistics from the US Small Business Administration, so you’re in good company. You just need to find a strategy that works and stick to it.
Let’s take a look at a few key ways you can take what you learned with the first financial setback and apply it to your new journey.
Carefully assess what happened
The first thing you need to do is take a look back at your past failure and ask yourself: What went wrong? How can you learn from those mistakes and keep moving forward?
Maybe you didn’t conduct enough market research before you jumped into the business feet first. Maybe you needed a better online presence and social media engagement and didn’t hire a marketing consultant to get the most out of these kinds of advertising. Maybe you needed to gather more startup capital before diving in. Whatever it was, make sure you don’t make the same mistake this time around. Invest in yourself and invest in your business.
Put it in perspective
Failure in business is inevitable, it seems, especially if you’re just starting out and don’t quite know where to turn for advice. There are plenty of others in the same boat as you, and at its core, success is the sum of your failures — or at least, the sum of the knowledge gained from those mistakes. So don’t beat yourself up. This isn’t the end of your story.
Choose your business structure
Determining what kind of business your new venture is going to be is one of the first steps to starting over. In the US, there are four kinds of business structures: sole proprietorship, limited liability company (LLC), partnership, and corporation.
An LLC, for instance, will allow you to protect your personal assets, along with other key advantages like less paperwork and more control over taxes. Be sure to check the regulations in your state, because rules may be different depending on where you are in the US, but forming an LLC could give you the advantage you need.
Focus on what you can control
It’s true in life and it’s true in business: You can’t worry about what you can’t control. The things in your power are the only things you should be concerning yourself with on a regular basis; the only things that should take up residence in your mind. In other words, your past setback happened. You can’t let it consume all your thoughts. You have to take it objectively as something that did occur, and now you’re moving on and learning from the mistake.
Reach out to people you trust
Sometimes, it’s hard to be objective about your past mistakes. Putting your trust in an advisor or business coach can give you the push you need to be successful. A business coach, in particular, can help you focus on what matters and motivate you to fix the important things right now. Not to mention a business coach will give you a frank assessment of your company and what went wrong, what went right, and how to fix each of these things.
Get back on your feet
You can do it. This is all a matter of perspective. Although it may seem difficult at first, you can get back into the game — all you have to do is dedicate yourself to pushing forward. Your entrepreneurial journey is just beginning.
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