Business is hard.
The truth is that most entrepreneurs will fail 3.8 times before they experience success. For me my count is 12 times. About ten small failures and two big ones where I lost all my savings, before I finally got a breakthrough success. I failed more than I succeeded.
Entrepreneurship is hard and you need to work hard. And yes, fail.
That’s the reality. Forbes says that 90% of start ups fail! Wow.
It’s stressful being an entrepreneur. Although as a Christian you’re not supposed to worry, the constant pressure of meeting sales, having enough for payroll, managing cashflow and people and situations can be a formula for anxiety and depression. A survey showed that about 33% of all entrepreneurs are depressed.
And I’ve been there too. It’s not a good place to be in. It’s dark and there are Lord-of-the-rings type of voices sending suicidal thoughts to you as a solution.
And even after a big success the pressure you get from different corners , including the BIR, has caused me disappointment, frustration and depression.
Being an entrepreneur is exciting but it’s not for the faint of heart.
Yesterday, I think I talked more about my successful failures than my successes. A successful failure for me is when you’ve learned from your failure and moved forward.
The encouragement I get is from the book of James in the Bible. Scripture says to count it as pure joy when we face trials of many kinds because this develops our endurance, tests out faith and builds our character. Making us ready for whatever challenge comes in life. Lacking nothing.
God is there in your failures and trials. In fact, He has a soft spot for failures.
I gave a talk at the
DTI Go Negosyo Mentor Me program launch here in Bohol and met the new mentees who are embarking on a ten week program towards relaunching their businesses.
I’m happy that many of them have failed at least three times before. That means they’re almost there!
But with this program, the Kapatid.Mentor Me Program, or KMME, they don’t have to fail in real time. They can simulate failure somehow by presenting to their mentors their business plans and catching the flaws before its executed.
And it’s worked so far.
Twenty out of twenty five mentees in each batch report turn arounds in their business. One reported a 900% increase in sales and another said what was her yearly income is now her monthly income.
I found out that May is mental health month. So, I just wanted to encourage those who are suffering from depression to talk to someone about it. Especially you Entrepreneurs. Shout out to you all. No need to romantize the entrep journey. It’s hard and you need someone to support and encourage you. And pray for you and with you.
Don’t be like my character Eddie in the book, The Happy Entrepreneur, who waited until he was literally at the edge of his cliff ready to jump. Spoiler alert. Sorry.
Happy to have met these two Entrep mentees who made pakapal ng mukha (thick faced) to approach me to give me samples of their products…and in turn ask for help.
B
lessed to share my journey with these Entrep mentees.
But most blessed to be able to share the good news with them in closing and pray and lead them to surrender their worries, failures, successes and lives to Christ.
#gonegosyo #kmme #mentormeBohol #mentalhealth #failingforward #failingsuccessfully #successfulfailure #joyintrials #thehappyentrepreneur
