When you know that failure doesn’t mean the end, it’s simply a sign that you need to adjust your direction, you can remove pressure from yourself. It’s only when you’re free from pressure that you can relax, and allow your creativity to flow. That’s how you find your best ideas – some will fail, because they’re all experiments until they’re tested, and proven to work.

You always learn more from failing, because it means you’re being creative, discovering your own unique angles, and moving forward. Playing safe, and not being original, means you will stagnate and not create new business.

Here are some of the experiences of failure from successful entrepreneurs:

I learned that what you might think is the worst thing that ever happened to you in that moment might actually turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you. I can recount a number of the instances when I thought the world was ending to only laugh about it several years later and thank my lucky stars that that’s how things turned out.

– Ekaterina Walter, CMO of Househappy.

 

I learned that a successful venture requires 100% attention, focus, and effort. Secondary ventures need a full-time manager or else they’ll just distract you and derail your existing efforts if you aren’t careful.

Jayson DeMers, founder and CEO of AudienceBloom

 

The greatest lesson I learned was that mistakes will not end your business. If you are nimble and willing to listen to constructive criticism you can excel by learning and evolving.

– Meridith Valiando Rojas, co-founder and CEO DigiTour Media

 

Trust your instinct. And if you can’t tell what your instinct is telling you, learn how to peel back the noise in your life that is keeping you from hearing it.

– Caroline Ghosn, co-founder and CEO of Levo League

 

The biggest lesson I’ve learned the hard way is entrepreneurship is much easier when you’re not doing it alone. Partners whose skills complement yours and whom you trust completely make the difference between big success and small, or between success and failure.

– Shane Snow, co-founder of Contently

 

It can be nerve-wracking but it’s important to get products out there and use data to see whether it’s working. I think the best process is this: Release, Review, Optimize, Iterate, Repeat.

– Ryan Harwood, CEO of PureWow

 

Failure – a very harsh failure – taught me that you cannot surround yourself with “yes men” (or “yes women”). Disagreement and conflict are healthy. They create stronger, better decisions, and more exploration of the risks and opportunities.

– Rand Fishkin, co-founder of Moz and Inbound.org

 

The most important part of failing is realizing tomorrow will offer another day to get it right. Earlier in my entrepreneurial career, I took failures very personally. One “big failure” would get me down for days, and in some instances diminished my confidence and productivity for weeks.

– Scott Gerber, serial entrepreneur, author (Never Get a ‘Real’ Job), and founder of Young Entrepreneur Council

 

Without clear and dedicated focus, whatever you want to do as an entrepreneur will either not be acted upon in the right timing or not implemented as effectively as it could have been should you have had the focus. It’s a pretty simple concept, but sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to implement on a day in day out approach.

– Neal Schaffer, social business coach, and author of Maximize Your Social

 

… the plan you start out with is never the plan that actually works. I believe if more entrepreneurs went in with that attitude they would be more successful. Startups tend to fall in love with their product, when they should be more focused on building a loyal audience, listening, and adjusting the offering on the fly until it takes.

– Joe Pulizzi, founder of Content Marketing Institute

 
Read more from 33 entrepreneurs: hhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-honigman/35-tech-entrepreneurs-failure_b_5529254.html

 
Check out Richard St. John’s video, where he discovered the 8 steps necessary for success through failing.

 

Richard Branson, through Virgin, administers the British government’s Start-Up Loans scheme, so he’s well positioned to share his experience. He tells entrepreneurs who are starting up in business to expect failures, as every successful businessperson has known a few along the way.

You grow from the lessons that failure teaches you, and how you pick yourself up determines the results of your next venture.

 

Richard Branson shares 3 key factors for success:

1. Keep it simple.

The best and most successful ideas are those that improve people’s lives. Their founders often have a simple plan focused on a single product or service – one that is prompted by frustration.

2. If at first you don’t succeed…

Few first ventures work out. It is how a beginning entrepreneur deals with failure that sets that person apart. In fact, failure is one of the secrets to success, since some of the best ideas arise from the ashes of a shuttered business.

3. Are you having fun yet?

If you don’t like being an entrepreneur, you’re doing it wrong. When you can’t wait to get to work in the morning and you are generally having a good time, there is a far greater chance that you’ll create a positive, innovative atmosphere and your business will flourish.

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/226811