How do you handle setbacks?

[CareyJo]

I can't imagine any business owner ever saying "I've never had a setback in my business".  Most of us heard that and went "Ya, right!"

Maybe there are some lucky people out there who've never had one, but I would be more inclined to believe it just hasn't happened yet.  Now... don't get me wrong... hold on and hear me out...

While I wish every business never experienced one and I am not a person who focuses on negative energy or ruminates over things (at least not for long, ha!) but... is it realistic to say or expect that you will never have one?  I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer - HONESTLY.  I'm just trying to be realistic.

We have a lot of new business members in this Community and new people join every day.  How beneficial would it be for us to stick our heads in the sand and falsely tell newbies that they will never have a setback????  Are we doing them any favors?  NO!!!

I think the better answer is - I hope you never have one or I hope that if you do have one that it's minor and you can recover quickly.

Setbacks aren't fun, they are sometimes expensive, they are usually good learning experiences and can easily cause us to lose sight of our vision or let go of our dreams.  We have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, hold onto our faith (whatever that looks like for you) and stay motivated. 

Think positive!  Keep your chin up!  Don't give up!

Easier said than done, right?

I know firsthand!  I know EXACTLY how this feels!  BTDT!!!

I'm a seasoned business owner.  I've owned 11 businesses in 35 years.  Was it always easy?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

Did I keep going?

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Why do I bring this up, you ask?  Because just this week, we've had a MAJOR financial setback in our business.  We lost a single contract that is more than 6 figures, beginning immediately.  Which means that the normal monthly income we would expect for next month, isn't coming.  And it's not our fault.  We didn't lose it because of anything we did and we couldn't prevent it.  There may be a miracle around the corner for us and we may get part of it back, but only time will tell.

So what do we do?  Do we just sit around for the phone to ring?  Do we start trying to come up with some sort of gimmick to get something new?  Do we tell everyone we know that we lost it and how devastated we are and wallow in it?

No.  No.  No!  We do what we've always done.  We keep moving as if nothing has changed.  We are big believers in faith.  We're also believers that in order to make room for new, you have to let go of old.  When we took on that contract, it diminished our ability to respond to regular customers as quickly as we had in the past.  Have we lost customers?  No.  But has nature taken its course with keeping other customers from calling as much because we didn't have the room?  Maybe...  We also believe that because the cause of this is a bad apple, that we will be rewarded for keeping our peace and looking ahead.  Something will replace it.  Maybe lots of somethings.  Who knows!  Does it hurt?  Yes!  Are we angry?  Yes!  Do we want justice?  Yes!!!!  But we cannot camp there.  Mentally it's not good for us.  For those of you who were around for Book Club, you may remember The Mountain is You.  It's all about emotional intelligence.

We're not going to sit around and mope.  Winter is coming.  That's not a metaphor.  Winter is quite literally coming.  Winter will be here for us in Montana by the end of next month.  No joke.  We already have places in the state that are seeing overnight lows in the 30's.  Highs are going to drop where we are by 15 degrees in 10 days!

The stress of travel is gone with that contract.  The stress of always being available to them is gone also.  There ARE blessings in the absence, we just have to look for them.  Yes, losing the dollars hurts but it will allow us to make room for replacements and spending my time fretting and worrying over this will not change it, bring it back or improve anything.  How we choose to respond to this is very important.  Notice I said respond.  Not REACT.

We're all going to experience setbacks in some fashion and I'd be willing to bet that every Champion in the Community can back me up on this.  Thinking positive, taking one small step everyday (if that's what it takes) to improve your mindset, your business and your peace, will always be worth it.  So, when, not if, a setback hits, take some time to breathe.  Take stock of what you have, what can you do differently, can you identify what went wrong and prevent it from happening again and most importantly, what did you learn from it?

We have a saying in motorcycle riding - it's not "if" you will lay it down, it's "when".  When we ride, we don't focus on the idea that we could go down.  Instead, we just let it go and know that it could be tomorrow or 20 years from now.  Letting it go and not being panicked that "what if?!?" and instead enjoying the ride, allows us to be free to experience how amazing it is to ride!  It's all about the mindset!

You cannot eat an elephant all in one bite.  YOU GOT THIS!!

[schaefferjosh]

I recently had a significant setback in our small business, and while it isn't losing a massive contract, we did lose supplies to 2 of our top-selling seasonings. We operate out of our home, and so we obviously get a lot of packages there. Well, I was waiting for almost 50 lbs of different paprikas to arrive. It came in, I opened the box to ensure it was all there, closed it up, and left. I should have moved it.... Our very curious cat went "OOOO NEW BOX" and opened it up and proceeded to smell and rip open every bag. Reached out to order more and found out my supplier was out of my paprika for another couple of weeks. It set us back quite a bit, but we pushed on. Honestly, the only thing I could think of was "Is my cat okay??" Once we found out he and his red/orange paws were fine, all I could do was laugh. It was a significant setback for us, but all I could do was push on and laugh. Like, yep, that's a mistake on my part! 

[CareyJo]

I'm so glad he's okay!  I wonder how much sneezing he did while you were gone!!!  I hope you took the deduction as a loss of product too.  Definitely a setback and fortunately not a long term one.  Way to rebound!

[Lovewell]

This is beautiful and you are a legend! 

Setbacks happen often but it truly is all in how you look at them. Almost every if not every setback has made us better, stronger, and more flexible business owners

and humans in general. 

This year we had one of our espresso machines malfunction. A couple days of business were gone and a big bill followed. We do all the preventive maintenance. We take care of everything but sometimes things just break. 

[CareyJo]

You are so sweet!!!  Thank you!!!

[VanKalkerFarms]

I know it isn't the best or most sophisticated answer, but basically I follow Dorry's advice and just keep swimming.  there are always setbacks, complications, errors, problems, disasters, but the only way to get through them is to get through them.  Find what is a short term fix to keep you going AND a long term solution for the problem.  Once you are through the issue take a big picture look and see if there is anything you could have done to prevent it and if there is anything you can see to prevent similar situations in the future.
I am lucky in that I don't generally get very frustrated or worried so I can sometimes be oblivious to the fact that was a big problem that we got through because I just saw it as a bump.