Failure

Today, we're going to talk about something that everyone has experienced which is almost always unpleasant to think about, failure. Think back to something you attempted to do and failed. It may have been a sporting event, a test, a skill such as playing an instrument or or a sport. If you have ever attempted anything challenging, you will have failed at some point.

Think: How did the experience of failing influence you. How did you respond? Did you give up or did you try again? Did failure cause you to change how you worked on the problem or did failure teach you to just work harder in the same manner?

Listen to this presentation by Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran.

Discuss: How did Corcoran handle failure? What is the connection between innovation and failure? How did her company create intrapreneurs?

Currently, one out of four businesses fail within the first three years.The top causes are listed on page 19. These include:

1. Economic Causes: Industry weakness, low profits, and low sales
2. Finance Causes: Heavy expenses,and business debts
3. Disaster and Fraud: Hurricanes, flood and employee theft
4. Neglect: Business conflicts, family problems, and poor work habits
5. Strategy Causes: Over-expansion and difficulty collecting debts
6. Experience Causes: Inadequate planning and inexperience.

Think: Which of these can be controlled by business owners and which cannot? How can entrepreneurs use this information to prepare for the future?

Assignment:

Write: Create an e-mail (manersj@k12tn.net) titled "Failure" and list causes of failure, numbered one through six. Write a sentence or two below each item in the list summing up what you believe business owners could do to prepare for these potential problems. Write in complete sentences with correct grammar. The exercise is worth 10 points. You'll be graded on completeness, insight and grammar.

This e-mail must arrive at my in-box before the end of class!