Apemag

  • #MyStartupStory
  • tech
  • maker
  • Startup Lessons
  • In the South
    • Tennessee
    • Alabama
    • Arkansas
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Kentucky
    • Louisiana
    • Mississippi
    • North Carolina
    • South Carolina
  • Startup Support
    • Accelerators
    • Coding Bootcamps
    • Colleges and Universities
    • Incubators
Hannah Moyer, Startup Lessons

Experiencing Business Failure

- Hannah Moyer -

Entrepreneurs are notoriously passionate people. You need passion, or else you wouldn’t stay up late, wake up early, and prioritize a company you wholly believe in over a social life. When you’re passionate about what you do, it’s easy to find your identity in your work.

Jon Acuff Changed My Relationship with Work

Nearly two years ago I read “1 Reason You Have a Hard Time with Haters” by Jon Acuff, and it resonated with me. As creatives, we often find our value in our work, not as a creative human. The entire article is great, but this is the critical piece:

“Your art is not your identity. It’s not who you are, it’s a byproduct of knowing who you are. The difference is subtle but critical.”

Read that again. “It’s not who you are.”

It’s nearly impossible to separate yourself from your work. When we pour our entire selves into something, whether it’s successful or not, remaining unattached is difficult. And when your work takes a turn towards a cliff and you reach a point of needing to say “no”?

That’s hard.

What Failure Taught Me

About a month ago, my business partner and I chose to part ways and dissolve the company. I won’t go into the details, because they aren’t necessary. What is important is learning from my mistakes, picking myself back up, and realizing that it’s OK to “fail.”

Now, why is “failure” in quotes? Because as long as you learn from all your experiences and reflect on what you could have improved on, it’s not truly failure. It’s a time when you took a risk regardless of the outcome and worked to make something incredible.

I soon realized that a large piece of why I was struggling with this was that I’ve surrounded myself with a community of incredible, hard-working people. Why is that a problem? This incredible group of people are in their 30s and 40s, which means this 20-something perfectionist has trouble remembering that she’s only a couple of years out of school and has time. Everyone has had their failures and their successes.

When Failure Happens to You

When “failure” happens, it doesn’t mean you are a failure. It means that you’re learning and growing and experiencing something everyone does at some point or another. You chose to take a risk and to stop saying “Oh, that’d be cool.” You decided to go for it and see what could happen.

And that, my friends, is worth the stress, the fear, the sweat and the tears.

Next time you’re staring failure in the face, remember that you aren’t your work, and that failure can teach you some of the best lessons of your life. Through failure you learn more about who you are. Through failure you learn the practical ways you can improve next time. Through failure you realize that it’s not the end. It’s merely the beginning.

“You gave it your heart, but you did not leave your heart with the project.” — Jon Acuff

Jul 12, 2016Hannah Moyer

#StartupPerson: Jon Newman Shares His Passion for FoodSloss Tech Gives Nod to Birmingham's Origins and Its Future
4 years ago 7 Comments Hannah Moyer, Startup Lessonsbusiness failure, Jon Acuff158
Hannah Moyer

Hannah is a copywriter and marketer helping businesses tell their story in Nashville and beyond, and is co-host of The Year One Podcast. @hjmoyer on Twitter!

Comments: 3
  1. Matt Bennett
    4 years ago

    Without taking away from all the great writing here, I think this is some of the most valuable advice for new entrepreneurs or people considering it. The very personal nature of founding a company makes it inherently personal, and when it fails the effects can be equally personal. Helping readers understand that for the majority of entrepreneurs this will be part of their journey (at least once, if not several times), and that is not the same as personal failure is really important. Thanks for being willing to write frankly about this, and to let everyone learn wisdom from your experiences, Hannah. I know that cannot have been easy to write, but it is a great service to others.

    ReplyCancel
    • Hannah
      4 years ago

      Hi Matt! Sorry to just be responding now, but thank you so much for your kind words! I’m glad you got something from it, you make some great points – it happens to everyone, so why aren’t we talking about it?

      ReplyCancel
Pingbacks: 4
  1. Remember Your “Why” of Entrepreneurship « Startup Southerner
    4 years ago
  2. Startup Southerner's Best Quotes of 2016 « Startup Southerner
    4 years ago
  3. Just Start: Making Goals as an Entrepreneur « Startup Southerner
    4 years ago
  4. Why You Need to Experience Failure Before Your Succeed • Taylor St. Creative
    4 years ago

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Share It!
0
GooglePlus
0
Facebook
0
Twitter
0
Linkedin
Posts
Recent Comments
  • East Tennessee Startups Have Chance to Win $15,000 on 2017 Startup Day « Startup Southerner on #MyStartupStory: Start a Beer Fund With BrewFund
  • East Tennessee Startups Have Chance to Win $15,000 on 2017 Startup Day « Startup Southerner on Ed Pershing, CEO of PYA, Reflects on Entrepreneurial Journey
  • Salemtown Board Co.: Scaling a Social Enterprise « Startup Southerner on Entrepreneurial Thinking for Nonprofits
  • Salemtown Board Co.: Scaling a Social Enterprise « Startup Southerner on The EntrepreLingo Series: S Is for Scalability
  • Domonique Townsend on The Unbalanced Reality of Work-Life Balance for Working Mothers
Be up-to-date!
  You Might Also Like  
Startup Lessons

The Spookiest Thing About Being an Entrepreneur

In honor of Halloween, we posed this question: What's the spookiest thing about being an entrepreneur?

Columnists, Hannah Moyer, Startup Lessons

Embrace the Fear in Entrepreneurship

Hannah Moyer encourages us all to embrace the fear. The vulnerability will make us move forward.

  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
Most Viewed
2016 FOUNDING SPONSOR
your-image-description
2016 FOUNDING SPONSOR
2017 © Startup Southerner, LLC