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Failures and why they are so important - Adrian Fleming http://AdrianFleming.com The most important thing you can do first is fail maybe even fail a few times. Let’s talk about people who’ve have failed in the past because we will actually learn more from that than their successes in most cases. These people went bankrupt, some more than once. H.J.Heinz Milton Hershey Walt Disney (fired too as he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas”) Henry Ford Robert Kiyosaki – lost his company Nylon and Velcro Wallet Company through incompetence Oprah Winfrey – fired form first TV job Steven Spielberg – rejected by Uni Southern California School of Cinematic Arts Col Sanders Albert Einstein struggled to learn in a traditional way and had difficulty communicating with others Fred Astaire – “Can’t sing. Can’t act”. J.K.Rowling was living on benefits when she first wrote Harry Potter and publishers turned her down too Sir Phillip Green – had 4 business failures before he made his first million Vincent Van Gogh on sold one painting while alive Harrison Ford was told he’d never make it as an actor Sir James Dyson went through thousands of failed prototypes and 15 years of savings Stephen King threw away his novel “Carrie” as he didn’t think it was good enough after 30 rejections –his wife got him to keep trying Donald Trump almost failed twice – he needed the banks to bail him out Sir Richard Branson – arrested for contents of his student magazine and was in trouble for tax too and had to sell Virgin records to keep Virgin Atlantic Alive Soichiro Honda – turned down for a job at Toyota Elvis – told, “You ain’t goin’ anywhere, son.” Babe Ruth – not only successful with 714 home runs but was the record holder for most strikeouts too at 1,330 Seth Godin – has started in his own words “…more than a dozen companies, most of which have failed”. http://AdrianFleming.com I too have had a few failures over the years and one things I can say is that each and every time I’ve learned form them and aim never to make the same mistake again. One thing I’ve also learned is to spot when things are going wrong and making changes, sometimes radical, to minimise losses, turn things around or get out with a profit if others involved don’t want to take the required action fast – in fact two businesses where I’ve been involved in the last coupe of years that I was a part of, not in full control of made me money and within 6 months of my departure went out of business, one was VC funded, the other privately funded but both were great ideas and could have been fantastic business and so my skills have definitely improved in this area as a direct result of previously failures. For FREE video training visit: http://AdrianFleming.com Get The Entrepreneurs Book at http://www.TheEntrepreneursBook.com Learn about Branding at http://BrandingProfit.com Learn About Interactive Print at http://IinteractivePrintProfit.com.
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failures and why they are so important
Hi, I’m Adrian Fleming and as a serial entrepreneur, strategic cross-media marketing expert and the author of…
I know, from first hand experience that…
…the most important thing you can do first is…
failmaybe even fail a few times
I know this sounds crazy - nobody wants to fail.
but it’s true
Let’s talk about people who’ve have failed in the past because we will actually learn more from that than their successes in most cases.
H.J.Heinz !Bankrupt
Milton Hershey !Bankrupt - twice
Walt Disney !Fired too as he “lacked imagination and had no good ideas”
Robert Kiyosaki !Lost his company Nylon and Velcro Wallet Company through incompetence
Oprah Winfrey !Fired from her first TV job
Steven Spielberg !Rejected by Uni Southern California School of Cinematic Arts
Albert Einstein !Struggled to learn and had difficulty communicating with others
Fred Astaire !“Can’t sing. Can’t act”
J.K.Rowling !Living on benefits when she first wrote Harry Potter Publishers turned her down too
Sir Phillip Green !Had 4 business failures before he made his first million
Vincent Van Gogh !Only sold one painting while alive
Harrison Ford !Told he’d never make it as an actor
Sir James Dyson !Went through thousands of failed prototypes and 15 years of savings
Stephen King !Threw away novel “Carrie” - didn’t think it was good enough after 30 rejections His wife got him to keep trying
Donald Trump !Almost failed twice – he needed the banks to bail him twice
Sir Richard Branson !Arrested for contents of his student magazine Was in trouble for tax Had to sell Virgin records to keep Virgin Atlantic Alive
Soichiro Honda !Turned down for a job at Toyota
Elvis !“You ain’t goin’ anywhere, son.”
Babe Ruth !Not only successful with 714 home runs Also the record holder for most strikeouts too at 1,330
Seth Godin !Has started in his own words - “…more than a dozen companies, most of which have failed.”
I too have had a few failures over the years and one thing I can say is that each and every time…
…I’ve learned from them and aim never to make the same mistake again.
One thing I’ve also learned is to spot when things are going wrong and making changes…
…sometimes radical, to minimise losses, turn things around or get out with a profit even if…
…others involved don’t want to take the required action fast.
In fact two businesses where I’ve been involved, in the last couple of years, that I was a part of, not in full control of, made me money and…
…within 6 months of my departure went out of business.
One was VC funded, the other privately funded…
…but both were great ideas and could have been fantastic businesses…
…so my skills have definitely improved in this area as a direct result of previous failures and my experiences.
You see success is down to adding value to the market…
…and for this you need the skills and ability to deliver that value.
Skills come from successes but also from failures too, so don’t be afraid of mistakes, criticism or failures…
…just use them to your advantage like I, and all those people I’ve just mentioned and more have, to turn a profit in the end.
