Epic failures of epic entrepreneurs
They tend to look at the bright side, learn from mistakes and try again.
WHEN we see successful entrepreneurs, we see only their success— their inclusion in rich lists, their faces on magazine covers, their photos in exclusive events and their Entrepreneur of the Year awards. What we don’t see are their failures. And some of the most epic of entrepreneurs in the world have experienced the most epic of failures.
Do you know Thomas Edison? No? Switch the light on. Yes, he invented the famous light bulb (among many other inventions). But it’s also his most epic failure. He failed 10,000 times trying to invent it. But he finally did. Not only that, he founded one of the biggest companies in the world: General Electric (GE).
What about Henry J. Heinz (no relation to me), the manufacturer of Heinz ketchup? Before he made it big, his first company went into bankruptcy when he couldn’t pay his creditors and employees during the Panic of 1873. One year later, he recovered and started and grew H.J. Heinz Co. into a giant conglomerate (now acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway).
KFC is even more famous. Its founder, Col. Harland Sanders, was a serial failure. He kept starting and failing in so many businesses. His wife even left him. He was already in his 60s when his Kentucky Fried Chicken really took off.
Modern epic fail
FOR more recent history, Bill Gates and Paul Allen failed at their first software business called Traf-O-Data, a traffic data-analysis program. But they learned from that lesson and launched a new start-up they called Micro-Soft (renamed Microsoft, now one of the biggest companies in the world, making Gates the world’s richest man).
There is, of course, the legendary Steve Jobs, who is known as much for his failure for being kicked out of Apple and failing at his next company NeXT, before he returned triumphantly to Apple and transformed it into the most valuable company in the world before he passed away.
The one entrepreneur better known for firing people than getting fired is Donald Trump. Before he started telling candidates “You’re fired!” on his hit reality TV show The Apprentice, Trump became a real-estate billionaire, who later went through bankruptcy, not just once, but twice. But he made a comeback and became more successful than ever.
Then there’s Richard Branson, who is unique in that he has never stopped failing even as he has become one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. That’s because he keeps experimenting and launching all sorts of businesses, often under his umbrella Virgin brand. But for every successful Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic, there is a failed Virgin Cola and Virgin Brides. Yet, Branson pushes on.
Turning failure into success
SO how come these entrepreneurs were able to bounce back from their epic failures? Researchers and psychologists, who studied successful entrepreneurs, point to two key traits. One is optimistic bias. They tend to look at the bright side, learn from mistakes and try again.
Edison famously said, “I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” He also noted,
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
In fact, usually successful entrepreneurs are too confident and over optimistic that somehow they will succeed. Ford said, “Failure is just a resting place. It is an opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” He was so confident of success that he also said,
“If I lose a billion dollars, I will have it back in less than five years.”
This high level of confidence and optimism fuels their perseverance and commitment to do whatever it takes. Heinz said,
“To do a common thing uncommonly well brings success.”
Colonel Sanders resolved that he was going to be successful:
“No hours, nor amount of labor, nor amount of money would deter me from giving the best that there was in me.”
The other trait common to successful entrepreneurs is that they have a growth, not a fixed, mindset. This means that, when they fail, they believe it’s only temporary and it does not mean that they themselves are a failure. Allen said in an interview,
“Every failure contains the seeds of your next success.”
Trump said,
“I was relentless even in the face of total lack of encouragement because, much more often than you think, sheer persistence is the difference between success and failure.”
Branson noted that
“For every success story, there are hundreds of near-misses. Every entrepreneur fails before succeeding.”
Failing forward
BRANSON happens to be one of the advocates of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), the world’s largest celebration of entrepreneurship. In the Philippines GEW is hosted by the Young Entrepreneurs Society Philippines.
One of the highlights of GEW, which happens from November 17 to 23, is Failing Forward Conference. This conference, happening on November 22 at the Meralco Multipurpose Hall, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, features 10 successful Filipino entrepreneurs, who will share their failures and how they turned those failures as stepping-stones to success.
We hope you join the millions of people worldwide, who are taking part of GEW, by attending Failing Forward Conference 2014. Learn more at www.failing4ward.com.
Heinz Bulos is a Registered Financial Planner of RFP Philippines. He is the Chief Executive Officer, Creative Director, Curator, and BPG (Big Picture Guy) of Learning Curve, overseeing strategy, product development, and marketing.
Source: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/epic-failures-of-epic-entrepreneurs/
Comments
3,311 total views, 1 views today
Social