A good entrepreneur believes they have no other choice than to succeed. But a great entrepreneur knows that failure is a possibility and planning for it is necessary.
Don’t get us wrong — this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be laser-focused, hungry, and pouring all of your energy into a goal. This is not about having a plan B to fall back on, and taking your foot off the gas pedal. But planning for failure is as important as planning for success. Here are three reasons why.
1. ALLOWS YOU TO ANTICIPATE CHALLENGES AND PREPARE ACCORDINGLY
When you plan for failure, you’re essentially looking for all the ways something can go wrong. By poking holes in your plan, you’re not only discovering weaknesses in your strategy — which could eventually become problems down the line — but you are also allowing yourself to minimize the chances of those issues arising. Therefore, you can prepare accordingly to ensure it doesn’t happen, or if it’s a bullet you can’t dodge, create a contingency plan for it.
2. KEEPS YOU ON YOUR TOES
There’s no better way to motivate you to stay focused than to be reminded of everything that is at stake, and what you can lose if you were to fail. Acknowledging the possibility of failure is the perfect solution to prevent yourself from being complacent or overly confident in yourself, causing you to make mistakes you could have avoided and that are costly.
3. MAKES IT EASIER TO BOUNCE BACK
When you plan for failure, you somewhat prime your brain for that possibility. So if it does happen, you’ll find that you have already planned for it mentally, emotionally, and financially, which makes it just that much easier to move on.
Remember, time is of the essence in entrepreneurship and a second too much wasted on what you lost is a second you could have used to push forward and get past this hurdle.
Next time you find yourself in a situation that is less than desirable, remember this: It’s not about all the times you failed, but all the times you picked yourself up and still kept going. And if you have a plan for when that happens — because after all it is a question of when you will fail, not if — moving on will be that much easier.