Turn Business Failure in to Possitive Experience

This may sound counter intuitive but failure can be seen as a positive when it comes to seeking investment. Investors, particularly of the Angel variety share an empathy with entrepreneurs who’s previous risks haven’t led to the rewards they hoped for. Failure in this context shows the investor that you have made mistakes and learned from them, therefore strengthening your credibility.

The Total Meltdown

You’ve successfully raised millions in capital, employed many people, invested in premises and then it goes bang and all comes crashing down around you. These “Total Meltdowns” often get the most attention and the founders are often highly criticised which is more often than not totally unwarranted. Founders should be praised for having the Big Cojones to go all out to make a difference.

The Empty Fuel Tank

Most common reasons for business failure are often due to the business running out of fuel. Perhaps there have been a series of small failures which culminates in collapse. Perhaps the sales process wasn’t tight enough, or the market didn’t quite understand the proposition. Typically in these scenarios the business runs out of money or the founders simply lose energy due to all the set backs.

The Lost Opportunity

This one is sometimes hard to live with, the business hasn’t failed like above, it is still opperational and making profits. However perhaps taking early stage funding, seeking out that expansion capital to exploit an open vertical or raising equity finance could of led to huge growth potential.

A big reason behind forming Edge Venture was to enable businesses to quickly capitalise on their opportunities and realise their true growth potential, but all the financial assistance in the world will not compensate for lack of energy and enthusiasm born out of previous failures. Embrace failure and learn from it, don’t let setbacks get you down and grasp every opportunity that comes your way.