Why you should choose a business coach who has failed

I’m here to talk to you about the f word.

What’s the first word that popped into your head just now? Bet I can guess.

But no, not that one. I’m talking about the other f word; failure…

It’s a funny word. One we often don’t like to talk about, let alone admit to. We choose to see failure as a bad thing, or perhaps we were taught to see it that way when we were children. And, with the official meaning being: “a lack of success,” I suppose it isn’t that surprising.

I’m here to share with you that failure is inevitable and isn’t even a bad thing. The truth is, failure is necessary!

I’m even here to get a little vulnerable with you and admit that I have failed, many times. And do you know what? This is what makes me an effective business coach, despite how it might sound.

So, what am I talking about exactly and why should you choose a business coach who has failed?

Make yourself a cuppa, sit back and keep reading to find out.

If you’re avoiding failure, you’re avoiding success

Let’s start the conversation with avoiding failure (we’ve all done it). If you’re avoiding failure though, you might be avoiding success too.

“But Lala, you just told me that failure means a lack of success.” I know, it’ll make sense in a minute, promise.

What I mean, is that you’re never going to be 100% perfect and neither is your work, so avoiding failure means you’ll never achieve success.

Me, I like to live by the 70-20-10 rule. Have you heard of it?

Basically, it’s all about your volume and output and how much work you put out there. The idea is that around 70% of what you produce will be just okay, 20% might not be that great, and 10% will be FREAKIN’ AMAZING!

If you do nothing at all because you’re too focused on avoiding failure, then guess what? You’ll miss out on some real opportunities for success. And why would you want to do that?

Work really hard, and some of your work might even be 90% FREAKIN’ AMAZING, but you’ll never know if you don’t try.

If I avoided failure, I never would have failed, and if I never failed, I wouldn’t have the success I have today. I also wouldn’t have all these valuable life and business lessons to pass onto you right now. See where I’m going with this?

Some of the ways I’ve failed

I started from nothing, all on my own, and have been through plenty of tough times. After many failures, I’ve almost given up (more than once), but chose to keep going and came out the other end and thrived. So, how have I failed exactly? There are too many to list. Seriously!

Here are a couple of examples.

My first attempt at selling wedding stationery online

When I first closed my physical stationery store and moved online, I focused too much on being like the big companies, and selling for the cheapest price. I did this instead of focusing my energy on what made my business stand out and what our ideal client needed from us. This mistake cost me money, wasted my time, and almost damaged my brand.

BUT, what it did teach me, is to know what my business strengths are and to stay focused on these.

With the substantial growth of Lala Design and my recent successful rebrand to Paper & Ink Studio, you’ll see it’s been working pretty well for me since!

Starting my coaching business 

When I started my coaching business, I took too long to perfect my coaching offerings. Instead of just launching with what I had and then tweaking it along the way, once I understood what was working best, I over analysed my coaching packages. This meant I took too long to get started and lost some clients along the way – they were ready to work with me, but I wasn’t ready to work with them, so naturally, they went elsewhere.

Now, I’ve had time to tweak my packages accordingly, but they’re still never perfect and I’m always learning, changing, and adapting my offerings to fit my ideal client’s needs – that’s what a great business owner learns to do (it takes time).

Why failure has made me a better business coach

My failures have helped me become a better business coach and help my clients succeed (the whole point of why I do what I do)!

Failure means I can bring more to my coaching table – golden nuggets like:

Real-life experience

As a business coach who has experienced failure firsthand, I can offer valuable insights and lessons learned from real-life mistakes, helping you avoid the same.

Real-life mistakes = real-life experience that you simply can’t get from a textbook.

Resilience and perseverance

I don’t regret any of my failures because you know what they’ve given me? A HUGE amount of resilience and perseverance – two critical business skills I can pass onto you, my fellow small business friend.

Empathy

One thing you can always count on me for is my empathy and I know I wouldn’t have this special quality had it not been for, you guessed it, my failures!

I can empathise with your struggles, feel into and understand your emotions, motivations, and feelings on a deeper level. I have a keen ability to sense what people around me are thinking and feeling (you might even say it’s my superpower).

Authenticity

You’ll know from my morning coffee chats on Instagram, that I probably couldn’t be more authentic if I tried. I’m real and honest and bring this into my coaching.

Have my failures made this me this way? They sure have something to do with it.

Motivation

All coaches should bring some level of motivation to their clients, but one who has failed? The motivation is on another level! By sharing my personal stories of overcoming failure, I’ll inspire and motivate you even further to keep pushing through your challenges and breaking those business boundaries.

Because we all someone to cheer us on and push us, when we have lost believing in ourselves.

You’ll know from my morning

Understanding

My failures mean I’ve been through all the challenges and obstacles that come with running a small business, so I understand them all.

I understand the emotional side of business too – it really can be an emotional rollercoaster at times, but I’m here to ride it with you.

What you’ll never get from me is judgement – I have a strong admiration for those who are at least trying and failing. I will never judge you for the mistakes made.

Finished your cuppa? What do you think?

Can you see the benefits of choosing a business coach who has failed? If you can, then I might just be the right business coach for you (failures and all).

Get in touch or browse my business coaching packages to find out more.

With kindness – Lala xo

Making small business better