• One of your biggest clients leaves and starts working with your competitor;
• The new product/service you thought everyone would love falls flat;
• The new hire who seemed a perfect fit for your company doesn’t work out;
• Your sales for the quarter are far less than your goals;
• A pandemic throws your whole business model out the window…

These are just a few examples of the types of setbacks you might encounter in your business.

Setbacks and obstacles in business (and life) are inevitable. How you respond can shut you off or lead you to breakthrough and growth.

At first, we all experience frustration, sadness, disappointment or anger. What you do with those feelings distinguishes winners from losers. How do you reflect on what happened and gain greater self-awareness? How do you think about and learn from what the setback taught you – so you can move forward?

What can you do to recover when you hit a serious setback on your road to business success?

Consider these 10 ways to get over and beyond a business setback:

1. Put it into Perspective

Every setback is an opportunity to re-evaluate your business strategy, and adjust your course. Failure is part of the learning curve to building a successful business. Before going into “the sky is falling” mode, take a step back to assess how significant the predicament is in the bigger picture. Evaluate the impact before jumping into crisis mode.

2. Keep a Positive Attitude

Be kind to yourself. List the good things in your life. Step back and focus on your long-term goals. Do something fun. Connect with positive people. Help somebody else…

3. Keep it Simple

Don’t try to fix everything at once. Instead, do today a little better than yesterday. Take one step at a time. Focus on actions, not results… 

4. Focus on What You Can Control

Once you’ve sized up your problem write down a list of options. These are the steps you can take. The important thing is to focus on what is in your control. Don’t put anything on the list that’s out of your control (e.g. pandemic, regulations, competition…)

5. Determine What Went Wrong and Fix it

Feeling sorry for yourself won’t help the situation. Put your emotions aside, and objectively evaluate the cause of the setback. Immediately write down what you will change to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Make sure you develop a clear plan for what needs to be done differently.

6. Cultivate a Supportive Community

A supportive network is a major asset during a setback, when you may experience loneliness, stress, rejection, anger, loss, and more. To create a strong support system, ask yourself: Who are my go-to people? Where can I be vulnerable without judgment? Whom do I trust? Who will watch my back and give me honest feedback?

7. Take a Break

Get out of the office. Do something fun, go outdoors, take a break from social media and just give your mind a break. It is hard to bounce back if you have nowhere to turn to when you are in pain.

8. Keep Adjusting

Not every business setback needs to be met with a total reinvention or “pivot” of your business plan. Often adjusting smaller things (changing prices, re-negotiating with suppliers, reaching out to clients…) would be all that you need to put your business back on track. Don’t hesitate to test different approaches and tweak until you find the one that gives you the best results.

9. Create Lessons Learned for the Future

Remember, “Failure is success if we learn from it.” For example, if losing a big client gets you to implement a customer loyalty program – that’s a win in the long run. If making a bad hiring choice caused you to improve your qualification, hiring and onboarding of future employees… Again you win in the long run.

10. Don’t Be Too Serious

If there’s ever a time to have a sense of humor, this is it! Do something that will make you laugh. This will clear your mind, even if just temporarily, so that once you do come back to the problem, you can focus on it.

Now It’s YOUR Turn

For five minutes… come up with as many ideas as you can… what can YOU do/recommend to handle a setback?