The Green Sheet Online Edition

April 24, 2023 • Issue 23:04:02

Inspiration

After failure - what then?

If a company introduces a new POS system or multifunctional cloud software that solves all manner of merchant challenges, and instead of taking the market by storm, it tanks, that's not something we'll read about in a press release. And rightly so.

People want to spread the word about their successful innovations, initiatives, collaborations and awards. Talk publicly about things that go wrong? Not so much. Yet all entrepreneurs, who are generally more comfortable with taking risks than most folks, need to be prepared to not sink along with their failed projects when it happens to them.

Assess and regroup

So, here are some things to do to recover and move forward if it happens to you. These are mostly common sense actions, but sometimes when we are under stress, it's difficult to have clarity on next steps:

• Meet with your team and evaluate the reasons for the failure. Ask whether it was due to a lack of market demand, insufficient resources, technical issues, or something else. This will enable you to spot the root cause(s) of the failure so you can avoid repeating the errors when planning and implementing future projects.
• Once you have a good grasp of the reasons for the failure, articulate what lessons you have learned and how you can make use of those lessons going forward. This includes identifying areas for improvement and making the requisite changes to your practices and processes.
• Next, ascertain the extent of the damage caused by the project's failure and ask whether it's worth continuing to invest in it or whether it's time to cut losses. It's tough to let go, but accepting the loss and moving on will likely enable you to find better opportunities.
• Next, reassess your goals and objectives because the failure might indicate that your aims are no longer aligned with current market trends and customer needs. You don't want to spend a year designing a new solution for a pain point that no longer exists.
• If you learn your company is out of step with current market needs, consider reinvention. Perhaps you need a new business model or need to target a brand new market for your next initiative. Pivoting, after all, can be exhilarating.

Partner up

Also consider working with an experienced and trusted partner whose skills combined with your own could make you far stronger than either of you would be on your own. A partner with fresh eyes could help you develop a strategy far superior to the one you used for your failed project.

The right partner could also help with such functions as understanding market conditions and customers, as well as how to streamline processes and reduce costs. It's essential, of course, to pick the right partner and approach the relationship with a clear understanding of your mutual goals and objectives.

Here's hoping that you have only successes in 2023, but if you run into a snag, you'll know just what to do.

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