7 Ways My Biggest Screw-Ups Ended Up Making Me A Wildly Successful Entrepreneur
Failure was my greatest accomplishment.
GaudiLab | Canva For any entrepreneur, one of the most important things you can learn is the ability to actually create success. This might sound like a magic trick or something impossible, but with the help of the right marketing ideas and styles, you can make a massive impression on your future.
To get there, you need to know the right path to follow in terms of learning from your mistakes. You will make mistakes, and that's fine, but what's most critical is that you learn from them.
Here are 7 ways my biggest screw-ups ended up making me a wildly successful entrepreneur:
1. I learned to never ignore my competition
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The silliest thing anyone can do as an entrepreneur is take their eyes off the ball. Your competition is the most important aspect of your business, and it needs to be managed and dealt with accordingly. You cannot simply ignore your competition; doing so will lead to you losing out on massive sums of business. When they make a change and edit their own style, you will lose out.
Therefore, it’s more important than ever to create an environment that allows you to research your competitors' strategies and styles to understand how they are progressing and managing their business, which will help you manage yours effectively.
Forgetting about who you are, up against others, is an easy mistake to make. I had to learn from this, and now, I use their successes as a template for motivation, innovation, and improvement daily.
2. I learned how to be decisive
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Indecision is the biggest lesson you need to learn from. Being cautious is one thing, but freezing up and missing out on a big opportunity is almost unforgivable at times. You need to be able to learn from those times when you don't take action; the more times this happens, the more times it'll cost you.
In the past, I've frozen on big contracts from clients and missed out. If you are worried that making a decision could force you to miss out on personal time or an event, consider the long-term benefits before taking too long to respond.
Decisive entrepreneurs are better equipped to manage the risks inherent in starting a business. A study on migrant entrepreneurship concluded that they combine their decisiveness with a proactive and competitive drive, allowing them to make rapid progress in the early stages of a venture.
3. I learned from my errors
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Another key aspect of learning from your errors is realizing you need to learn. It's all well and good reading this list, but are you going to take action? If you notice some glaring errors in your way of working, you need to work on them and make them better ASAP. If you don't, you are only going to cause yourself more problems later on down the line.
Take the time now to address your errors by writing them down and looking into individual solutions for what you do wrong. It's vital that you are able to realize what you're doing wrong. Without this ability, you will repeat the same errors. Avoid this problem by taking note of what you mess up. The benefits of doing so far outweigh the negatives of failing to take note.
4. I learned to sell to my customer
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A big problem that entrepreneurs and businesses make is selling their products to themselves, not to what the customer needs. Rather than rattling on about how good you or the product is, make sure you become adept at making it relevant to the interests and needs of those you are actually selling to.
Having all the sales material in the world is pointless if you aim it at selling to what you would want, not what your customers need. Customers are more likely to react positively. I used to promote myself endlessly and eventually noticed my client list dropping significantly. To avoid this problem, I make sure my clients now know how my services benefit them, not how great I am.
In addition to honing in on what your customer needs, a strong brand identity acts as an internal compass for entrepreneurs, providing clarity on what the brand is and is not. A 2024 study found that this focus helps entrepreneurs make strategic decisions and pursue innovative ideas that are aligned with their core mission.
5. I learned to engage with my clients
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Likewise, a huge error businesses make is never engaging with their clients. When you get a list of people who buy your products or services, you need to be present and make sure they have all the help you can provide them.
Answer questions, deliver valuable content, and always make sure your clients are able to understand what you're offering. If you ever feel like something could be explained a little better, it's best to clarify with a separate article or video, rather than just leaving it open to your readers' interpretation.
A lack of connection with your clients is a killer for any business. Failure to be organic and fluid with your clients will, literally, run your entire business at risk.
6. I learned to keep it simple
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How often do you find yourself taking the long route to solve a problem? When this happens, you can find yourself run off the ground as the time between completing tasks becomes too great.
To make sure you're able to profit and benefit in the future, you need to create something efficient. To do this, go for a strategy that will be actionable today but still profitable tomorrow. Instead of always choosing the safest route or the fastest route, choose the solution that prevents you from stagnating.
Again, this is something I had to overcome. I had a really poor working setup that meant my clients were taking too long to get their work back. Improving my workspace made my efficiency skyrocket and has been a catalyst for my growth and success ever since.
Research shows that keeping it simple helps entrepreneurs succeed by reducing complexity, improving decision-making, increasing efficiency, and clarifying communication. Embracing simplicity is a strategic imperative that allows businesses to focus on core objectives and adapt more easily to changing markets.
7. I learned to never, ever become complacement
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Don't take your success for granted. This is one of the worst mistakes you can make. When you first start to make it big and see lots of sales, you simply cannot afford to just put your feet up and accept that things will remain this way forever.
The key to a good business is to get the sleeves rolled up, get involved, and make sure your clients can see that you are working harder than ever to impress them and to impress the rest of your clients. Going the extra mile is a prerequisite, not an option.
Complacency will kill you. I've lost out on massive jobs by being too complacent about work that had to be completed, missing out on some of the most important topics and jobs possible that could've really helped my business.
Make sure your complacency never drops. I do this by always repeating this mantra: "Drop the attitude, and get some gratitude." When a day's work feels like an effort, you should remember how lucky you are to have work in the first place.
Carl Preston is an entrepreneur, author, and freelance writer.
