What if it Doesn't Work?
Show Notes
Questions, feelings, and narratives based on something that hasn’t actually happened seem real. But, we can move beyond the fear and make progress by answering today’s question: What if It Doesn’t Work?
If a business idea doesn't work, you didn't fail. Or if something like a marketing effort didn't work, you didn't fail.
You just gained an opportunity for feedback. And feedback is priceless. And it can launch you toward greater success.
In this episode, I'll give you a process that will give you a way to learn faster and move toward your next step. It's called the Feedback Framework.
Resources
Quote: “There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.” -Tony Robbins
The best resource to learn how to build a successful Amazon business: https://provenamazoncourse.com (I'm an affiliate, but it's the same course and community I used to build my Amazon business)
Detailed Transcript
There have been times when I have said to myself, “What if it doesn’t work? I mean, if I try to start something and it doesn’t work out, what are people going to think of me? What’s that going to do to me emotionally? Will I feel like a failure? Will it stop me from trying something else?
Listen. Questions, feelings, and narratives based on something that hasn’t actually happened seem real. But, we can move beyond the fear and make progress by answering today’s question: What if It Doesn’t Work?
Thanks for joining me today. As we get started I want to share our quotation for the day.
Tony Robbins said, “There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.” What if that was your perspective? What if you trained yourself to stop considering failure and started looking for results. Results you can learn from. What would that do for your business? Your marriage? Your kids?
Well, that thought fits perfectly with what we’re going to look at today.
When you dwell on the question, “What happens if it doesn’t work?” take a moment to pause and examine why you are asking the question.
Are your questions because you’re afraid of feeling like you have failed? Is it because you fear how are you will be viewed by others? Sometimes this is rooted in our tendency to compare ourselves with others.
Is it because you fear a loss in time and money? Because you know even a minimal start-up will take some resources.
Is it because you struggle in believing that you can actually build a successful business? Maybe you’re prone to self-doubt.
Maybe you have other reasons for questioning yourself, but examine yourself and pay attention to the fear and identify it.
Ultimately, when we ask ourselves “What if it doesn’t work?” We’re really asking, “What if I fail?” The fear of failure stops most people from moving forward with their dreams. They don’t believe they are capable and they allow fear to be there Master. But, doesn’t have to be you.
Personally, I do not use the terms failed, failure, failing. I know there are some contexts where these terms may be legitimately used but when it comes to experimenting with an idea, especially in business, I don’t think I’ll failure. I think about feedback. When something doesn’t work, it’s not a failure, it’s an opportunity for feedback. Feedback allows us to learn and do better next time.
Failure only happens when we quit on something that we shouldn’t quit. That would be failure. And yet, that too can typically be recovered from.
But when we attempt to grow a business and it doesn’t appear to be working as planned, focus on the feedback.
So in this episode, I’m going to give you a Feedback Framework to help you recover and grow from an idea that may not work (or works slower than expected).
But before I do, I want you know that this framework can help you in several ways. Yes, it’s true, it will help you if your business idea doesn’t go as you wished.
But it will also help you within your business when you attempt something new. For example, if you started a new social media marketing strategy to increase sales on a product, then you can use this framework to get valuable information that will increase your success next time.
You can apply this framework to marketing strategies, new employees that work out, and even the relationships in your home.
But first a little background. The U.S. Army’s Opposing Force (commonly known as OPFOR), a 2,500-member brigade whose job is to help prepare soldiers for combat. And as they go through exercises and thorough preparation they use a tool to evaluate their exercises (which may be a simulated comabat) called an After Action Review. The U.S Army has adopted this process and have been using it, to my knowledge, since 1981.
You can read more about this in a Harvard Business Review article that I’ll link to in the show notes
( https://hbr.org/2005/07/learning-in-the-thick-of-it ).
This After Action Review is the result of a definite purpose to “treat every action as an opportunity for learning—about what to do but also, more important, about how to think.”
And as we step out with our business, we need to, “treat every action as an opportunity for learning—about what to do but also, more important, about how to think.”
The goal is to help us plan, adapt, and succeed in the future.
So what does this After Action Review, or my adapted version, The Feedback Framework consist of?
The Feedback Framework contains four questions.
What were the desired results?
What were the results?
What caused the results?
How can the results improve?
Before we expand on these questions, just think abut how we can use these in many areas of life? It might take practice, a few minutes to focus, but if you showed up in business, work, family using this process, you’re likely to see improvement. A little bit of intentionality goes a long way.
Personally, I have tried business models and I ideas that were not a good fit. They weren’t mistakes, they were learning experiences. And I think it would be good to use one as an example while going through the Feedback Framework.
Several years ago, I was an online seller on eBay and Amazon. I was a Top Rated seller on eBay with a perfect record. I was also a part of Amazon’s FBA program and an early participant in their coaching program. And being an online seller was a great experience and you can do very well with it.
By the way, if you’re interested in becoming an Amazon Seller, Jim Cockrum is the person you want to learn from. He’s a pioneer in the space and his program call ProvenAmazonCourse.com is the best available and the community is phenomenal. I’ll link to his program in the show notes. Honestly, if you want to be successful selling on Amazon he and his team are the best.
But on with my story. Several years ago I found myself with a basement full of inventory and making a decision to close up shop. I invested int he business, had my Indiana Retail license, packaging system in place and I decide to stop.
The Feedback Framework
I was making money. I loved to watch my sales increase whenever I looked at my phone. My products were selling. But, I quit.
Why? Did I fail? No. (Remember, there’s only feedback). So why didn’t it work out?
Well, let’s walk through the framework.
What were the desired results?
The desired results were to continue to work from home, generate income, and have a flexible schedule. Also, if I continued, I would have desired to have been earning 100k within 24 months or less.
So if something isn’t working as expected, get real, maybe write all this down so you can process it. What is it you actually wanted to happen?
What were the results?
The results were, I was busy. Which is normal when starting a business, but I found myself not enjoying the kind of busyness it was. Revenue growth was slower than I wanted and I learned it was a lot more administration work than I wanted to do. And the bottom line is, I wasn’t going to earn 100k within my desired timeframe.
What caused the results?
I believe it was efficacy and a lack of interest. After learning the business model, I learned it wasn’t a good fit for me personally. I love variety and creativity and the model didn’t allow me to express enough of either.
I didn’t care for shopping for inventory, pricing products, shipping, and managing all of the details. Now for some people, it’s a dream come true. And they get their whole family involved in the process: shopping, shipping, managing numbers, and they love it. And I know some extremely wealthy people who thrive in the business.
But for me, it simply wasn’t a fit. It was a matter of self-awareness. God didn’t wire me to operate that way and I had to be honest with myself and my family and move on to something new. It was an experiment that gave me feedback.
Last,
How can the results improve?
In this case it calf have only improved by either, hiring someone else to manage the business or simply quit. So I dissolved the business and moved on to the next idea for better results.
But let’s say, I made the other choice. Let’s day I hired a manager to handle the process. That would have been a legimite solution based on taking the time and evaluating the feedback.
So what’s the point? If you start a business and it doesn’t work, you didn’t fail. Just learn from it. Go through the Feedback Framework and make a decision to make changes or move on to something else.
Don’t get discouraged and allow-negative self-talk to defeat you. Realize you’re an intelligent, gifted, capable person who can succeed. If others can achieve their own version of success, the truth is, you can too.
So remember the framework, tuck it away for later, you may need it.
What were the desired results?
What were the results?
What caused the results?
How can the results improve?
And you can grab a copy at SideBusinessSchool.com.
Thanks again for doing me today. I appreciate you so much. You’re a difference maker. You care. How do I know? Because most people won't to sit through a podcast episode like this, but you do. And I’m grateful for you.
If you would, please make sure you’re subscribed to the show and it would mean the word to me if you could take 90. Seconds and leave me a review. It definitely helps.
Until next week, remember, “There is no such thing as failure. There are only results.”