NFIB

Failing Is Not Failure
04/ 15/ 2003

by Rex Hammock

It has been exactly three years since the stock market began its great plunge. With it, the sinking economy has forced many small business owners to face the serious prospects of failure for the first time.

Nothing in one’s business life can be so difficult as closing their small business. I know. I’ve had to do it. The grief that comes with closing the door on your business, on your dreams, can be as overwhelming as all but the loss of a loved one. The denial, the anger, the shame, the acceptance all are there--the predictable coping phases of tragedy and loss.

Failure is something we never seek. Indeed, this magazine is devoted to helping you avoid it. But failing is an inevitable part of life and business and success. While it can destroy individuals, families and entire communities, it can also provide redemptive lessons in relationships, values, character and spirit. And it often provides the foundation for future success.

As we discovered in preparing this issue’s cover story, "The Great Comeback," succeeding after one fails starts the same for everyone who successfully makes the long journey back from loss to fulfillment. Though they each say it differently, the books we read, the experts we consulted, and the inspiring small business owners we interviewed, echoed the same message: Failing does not mean you are a failure, unless you believe it does.

In this issue, we profile men and women who have failed, but who refused to become failures. We hope you will be inspired (as we are) by their stories of persistence, dedication and faith.

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This article originally appeared in the April/May 2003 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

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