Change Your Mind About Failure

If you want to really be a success, you need to first learn to fail.

- Nicole Crampton

THERE’S A CONCEPT in entrepreneurship called re-entry rate, which is basically the number of times an entrepreneur comes back after failure. According to Allon Raiz, founder of Raizcorp, in the US, re-entry rate is 3,6 times on average. In South Africa, it’s 1,1 times. In other words, most entrepreneurs in this country fail once and never come back. “We try, we fail, and we go and get a job,” says Allon.

The problem is that failure is a critical part of success. If we can’t change the way we think about failure, it’s unlikely our entrepreneurial success rates will increase.

Here’s a case in point: Before launching RocoMamas, Brian Altriche had almost two decades of experience under his belt and more than a few hard-won lessons, thanks to failures that were essential to his overall success. “Failure is part of the equation of success. I call them my fabulous failures. You can’t achieve greatness without failures and risk,” says Brian, who adds that he hasn’t had a significant failure in years, largely because of the many failures he endured during his early years. Here’s the secret — great entrepreneurs

are resilient. They understand and accept the powerful role that failure plays in eventual success.