Column
How to Make Setbacks Push Your Business Forward
By Jim Blasingame
In elementary school science we learned that water has something called surface tension. If you carefully lay a needle on its side on calm water, by distributing the needle's weight, the surface tension can keep the needle from penetrating the surface.
Businesses have surface tension, too. But the needles in the marketplace are setbacks and failures. And the strength of each business' surface tension is in direct proportion to its ability to distribute the weight and impact of these "needles."
By definition, large organizations typically distribute the weight of their "needles" well. Also by definition, small businesses have a harder time with their "needles" because there just aren't enough people on the surface. Plus, the water surface of a small business is usually a little choppy. And choppy water won't float needles.
When is enough enough? How far can I go? How many "needles" can I take? When will my successes outnumber my failures? These are questions small business owners ask themselves every week, perhaps every day.
I like what Sir Winston Churchill said about this subject, "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
I'm not going to tell you to enjoy or look forward to failure. But I am going to tell you that you won't be successful in small business if you don't learn how to distribute the weight of failure organizationally and philosophically—and yes—even with enthusiasm.
Write this on a rock: "Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
Jim Blasingame is the award-winning host of the nationally syndicated radio/ Internet talk show, "The Small Business Advocate," and author of "Small Business Is Like A Bunch Of Bananas." Find Jim online at www.jbsba.com.
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