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Inspiration

After failure—what then?

f a company introduces a new POS system or mul- losses. It's tough to let go, but accepting the loss
tifunctional cloud software that solves all manner and moving on will likely enable you to find better
of merchant challenges, and instead of taking the opportunities.
I market by storm, it tanks, that's not something we'll
read about in a press release. And rightly so. • Next, reassess your goals and objectives because the
failure might indicate that your aims are no longer
People want to spread the word about their successful aligned with current market trends and customer
innovations, initiatives, collaborations and awards. Talk needs. You don't want to spend a year designing a
publicly about things that go wrong? Not so much. Yet all new solution for a pain point that no longer exists.
entrepreneurs, who are generally more comfortable with
taking risks than most folks, need to be prepared to not • If you learn your company is out of step with current
sink along with their failed projects when it happens to market needs, consider reinvention. Perhaps you
them. need a new business model or need to target a brand
new market for your next initiative. Pivoting, after
Assess and regroup all, can be exhilarating.

So, here are some things to do to recover and move Partner up
forward if it happens to you. These are mostly common
sense actions, but sometimes when we are under stress, it's Also consider working with an experienced and trusted
difficult to have clarity on next steps: partner whose skills combined with your own could make
you far stronger than either of you would be on your
• Meet with your team and evaluate the reasons for the own. A partner with fresh eyes could help you develop
failure. Ask whether it was due to a lack of market a strategy far superior to the one you used for your failed
demand, insufficient resources, technical issues, or project.
something else. This will enable you to spot the root
cause(s) of the failure so you can avoid repeating The right partner could also help with such functions
the errors when planning and implementing future as understanding market conditions and customers, as
projects. well as how to streamline processes and reduce costs. It's
essential, of course, to pick the right partner and approach
• Once you have a good grasp of the reasons for the the relationship with a clear understanding of your mutual
failure, articulate what lessons you have learned goals and objectives.
and how you can make use of those lessons going
forward. This includes identifying areas for Here's hoping that you have only successes in 2023, but if
improvement and making the requisite changes to you run into a snag, you'll know just what to do.
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
Kate Gillespie, President and CEO
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