Lessons From Failure

By Mac Ling

The Transformative Coach

As well as being the WIP Transformative Coach, Mac Ling is an entrepreneur, and has experienced the fate of 9 out of 10 founders - he had to wind down his startup.  Here he shares what he learned from failing and how to embrace to journey.

After shutting down my business, I felt it wise to sit and think about the lessons that learned from this failed business #1.  Some of these may seem like common sense, but I recognise that these were some of the lessons that I learned firsthand.

Don’t be rushed into decisions you’re not ready to makE

People can wait. Your big decisions will affect you greatly when you are first starting out.  Sometimes, doing nothing is better than moving forward with a decision that you are not comfortable with.

Test your product ASAP

Prototyping or getting a test in market is hugely invaluable to determining value to your customers and willingness to pay.

Choose a partner wisely

It felt a lot like getting married, but without the sex. Find a partner who complements your strengths and who you trust implicitly.

A Long sales cycle will kill a small company

Something that seems like a no-brainer but saw that the hard way. The more consideration for the buying decision, the longer the sales cycle.  Getting to a point where people are paying you for a service/product quickly is a must to understand the value transfer equation.

Keep investing in understanding yourself

Throughout this process, it became crystal clear as to what drives and motivates me.  I love helping people… but there are specific areas in which I am most passionate about helping.  Figure out what makes you tick…  It may be system-building, solving problems, or something else.  Once you understand that, work doesn’t feel so much like work anymore.

Be confident in your decisions

There will be difficult decisions that you will make where people will disagree strongly with you.  In the end, you’re the one that needs to live with that decision, so move forward with what you are confident with, and don’t look back.

Being your own boss is absolutely rewarding, but yet equally as demanding.  A mentor recently told me that experience is learning through failure and that wisdom is learning through the failure of others.  I hope that the lessons that I’ve learned benefit others in some way… so that you may gain wisdom through my failure.

Mac Ling

Mac is the WIP Transformative Coach.  He has been been working with high-achieving individuals since 2006 to create clarity around their future direction and build and keep new rhythms and habits. 

He coaches leaders from many spaces: entrepreneurs, business leaders, NGO leaders, management consultants, and others.

Interested in entrepreneurship? 
​Get in touch to learn more from Mac Ling, The Transformative Coach.

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