We, as humans, are a blend of excellence and failure. Have you ever felt like you could do everything you set your mind to? But despite working hard for it or wanting it with all your heart, you are unable to
achieve it?
Well, if that happens with you too, then maybe something bigger awaits you also ahead of all these struggles and mistakes. Mistakes are a part of life, especially the entrepreneurial path because they help
you earn your success rather than simply landing on it.
Mistakes are unavoidable and essential in business since they teach you two lessons:
- Introspection is required: errors arise when there are loopholes, a lack of information,
implementation, or execution. - Power to remain consistent: another reason why learning via mistakes is vital is that they prove
that something greater awaits beyond this level of learning.
The business journey is more like a game; you fall, damage yourself, and lose your life, but they are not
designed to stop you, but rather to encourage you to reach the castle and succeed.
Some important mistakes that have helped me shape where I am today are: - Entering with incomplete knowledge and experience: well, although there is no such bar to
measure the amount and volume of knowledge and experience required to enter or start a
venture still, after my experience of falling and rising, I suggest everybody to stop and introspect
what is required. When I started my advertising firm, I went bankrupt because of the gap in
education and understanding. - Collaboration without accountability: there was a time when I joined my father, back in 2001.
So, when you join something that is already established, you don’t learn the dirt of it. I joined
my father when Aakash Institute was at its peak. We started something of our own and could
not succeed in it. Later in 2006 I joined him again and went to Bombay to set up his franchise,
that is when I realized what setting up a business is. I was paying him for his franchise, handling
marketing, and branding everything on my own.
That is when I learned that collaborating without taking accountability was the biggest mistake
earlier which gave me a lesson and a chance to grow.
“It’s not how we make mistakes, but how we correct them that defines us.” – Rachel Wolchin
We all make mistakes, but the key is to learn from them and use them as stepping stones towards
success, rather than roadblocks. Personally, I’ve made my fair share of blunders since 2006, but I’ve
made a conscious effort to avoid repeating them and strive for self-improvement through introspection.
At the end of the day, mistakes can be valuable teachers if we approach them with a growth mindset.
