by Dr. Cindy Briggs

This week I am bringing something to you that I never thought I would share publicly. It was a small part of our lives that I wanted to keep private, until I realized it could help so many others.

Let me start this with a part from the book I am writing— it sets the stage for this conversation.

At this point,I was certain I wouldn't be able to breathe through my fear.I kept thinking, “breath, just breath.” I would look at Scott for reassurance, but at that moment he was just as nervous as me. We continued to watch individuals and couples go before the judge. Here we were sitting in bankruptcy court waiting for our turn to explain our case. We watched as this judge showed his disappointment, and sometimes anger at people who came before him. We heard comments like, “this was not OK” and“you should have been more careful with your finances”. He was a very distinguished looking man who looked like he would be a good friend in different circumstances. He had those eyes like a dad who was disappointed in you at this moment, but still cared. He was passing out tough love to people, but at that second seemed like very scary disappointment. Yes, we were afraid to face him knowing we were asking him to basically forgive a $300,000 mistake. We were not able to pay our debts.We were losers, and we didn’t have a good excuse.We were drowning, and it was the end of the rope.I was afraid, and I landed on the fact that it was true, I was a failure

Yes, we had a business fail… and fail BIG. We started with a dream, did everything “right”, and we were still sitting here with a failed business.

There are some pretty sobering statistics when it comes to new businesses:

• Almost 20% fail in the first year
• Approximately 45% fail in the first five years
• And a sobering 65% fail in the first 10 years

This can make many of us think… “well what is the point? Why would I want to do this?” The answer is because you have an entrepreneurial spirit, you have the dream, and the desire. When I speak with entrepreneurs, we all have a similar story— we just knew we wanted to do something different. That is exciting, and we should not stop dreaming just because of statistics!

We may fail…. yes, it is a possibility…. but it is not a fact. AND if we do fail… you know what… we can pick ourselves up and start over. We do not have to let failure define us. If Scott and I let this failure determine our future– we would not have seen several very successful business ventures. We would not have seen the hundreds of patients a week he helps in a new chiropractic clinic. We would not have seen our online businesses grow. We would have let one failure define us, control us, and then it would have won.

Let me go back to that courtroom with another paragraph from my book:

Then this judge with the kind eyes got quite and said, “I hope this doesn’t stop you. I hope you are willing to take more risks and start more businesses. This was one bad situation, but it does not define you or your ability to make a business work.”Wait....what.... did we just hear him correctly? Where was our lecture? Where was our disappointed judge?

We had someone look at us and tell us to NOT GIVE UP! I hope I can be that person for you... to tell you that things can get rough, but you can bounce back if you have the right attitude.

I discuss these points more on the podcast, but here are the things you need to do to recover:

1. Stop/ refocus
2. Set up a plan (written)
3. Mourn--- but don't go into a pity party
4. Don't stop dreaming
5. Believe in you... even when others don't

The reason I decided to share this very personal failure (as a business professor and business coach!) was because I want you to know that it is OK. You will survive. This (or any) failure will not be fatal!

You can hear more about this topic in this week's The Business Professor podcast. 

Then this judge with the kind eyes got quite and said, “I hope this doesn’t stop you. I hope you are willing to take more risks and start more businesses. This was one bad situation, but it does not define you or your ability to make a business work.”Wait....what.... did we just hear him correctly? Where was our lecture? Where was our disappointed judge?

We had someone look at us and tell us to NOT GIVE UP! I hope I can be that person for you... to tell you that things can get rough, but you can bounce back if you have the right attitude.

I discuss these points more on the podcast, but here are the things you need to do to recover:

1. Stop/ refocus
2. Set up a plan (written)
3. Mourn--- but don't go into a pity party
4. Don't stop dreaming
5. Believe in you... even when others don't

The reason I decided to share this very personal failure (as a business professor and business coach!) was because I want you to know that it is OK. You will survive. This (or any) failure will not be fatal!

You can hear more about this topic in this week's The Business Professor podcast. 


Dr. Cindy Briggs is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, college professor, wife and mom. Her mission is to provide programs that can help entrepreneurs and communities thrive. To find out more, visit www.cindybriggsphd.com.