Speaker 1: 0:21

Hello world, welcome back to Not Just Candle Talk the rawest corner of the internet for creators, entrepreneurs and small business owners. If you're listening today, chances are you've made a decision that tanked, burned or just didn't turn out like you hoped. Maybe it cost you money, maybe it cost you momentum. Maybe it cost you money, maybe it cost you more momentum, maybe it cost you confidence. But guess what? You're not alone and, most importantly, you're not done. On today's episode, bad move, big lesson and how to recover from a business decision that nearly broke you business decision that nearly broke you. So hit that subscribe button, because this episode might just be the reset button your business and your mindset needed.

Speaker 1: 1:15

So let's get started right here. Everybody messes up, even billionaires, even that coach or influencer you follow on IG who seems like they've got it all together. The truth is, bad business decisions are not the end, they're just part of the game. But the way you respond, that's what separates a founder from a flake. So let's think about it. You might have think about it. You might have launched a product too early, hired the wrong person, invested in marketing that flopped, entered into the wrong partnership or maybe just ignored your gut. Pause here just for a second and ask yourself was this decision rooted in fear, ego or desperation? Because the truth is those three fear, ego and desperation are the real silent business killers. So you say, now and now, what? Now we rebuild. So I have a few steps for you and these are how to recover without spiraling. So let's go through the steps. Step one own it without shame. Say it out loud. That decision didn't work. But I'm still here, I'm still in the game. Don't hide, stop hiding. Talk about it. Use it as part of your founder story, because transparency builds trust and trust builds loyal buyers.

Speaker 1: 2:55

Step two audit the why. Real quick. Grab a notebook and ask what information did I have at that time? What red flags did I ignore? Was this move aligned with my bigger mission? Because sometimes bad decisions come with good intentions. But that doesn't make you foolish, it just makes you human, okay.

Speaker 1: 3:21

Step three minimize the damage, because you have to ask yourself is the issue financial? If so, cancel the recurring payment. Is it a bad hire? If it is, have that hard conversation. Was it a product mistake? Rebrand or refund. Cut your losses early. Don't drag the dead weight. Here's a quick truth bomb. Delaying cleanup only creates compound chaos.

Speaker 1: 3:57

Step four rebuild your confidence. Bad decisions they shake us up, they make us second guess everything, but this is where you get stronger by revisiting your wins. You can even talk to a mentor, if you have one, or a fellow business owner, or you can even read a review. Someone left you. But remind yourself you are not that one mistake.

Speaker 1: 4:28

Step five document the lesson. You can do something like create a business mistake playbook for yourself. Write everything down, what happened, what you learned and what you'll do differently next time. This right here. This turns pain into process and process becomes power. So let me tell you guys a quick story.

Speaker 1: 4:59

A few years ago I invested hundreds into a rebrand with a team that didn't quite understand my voice, my audience or my vision. Everything it looked polished and looked good, but the sales they were crickets in the market we was trying to go for and that crushed me a little bit. I felt like I was losing myself, trying to do something or trying to be something. I wasn't. But when I think back and I went back to the drawing board, I recreated a why, a different type of why, and I rebuilt with a better understanding and the growth I saw was a little bit better with the team.

Speaker 1: 5:52

So mistakes can break your budget. It really can, and that's what it broke my budget a little bit, but that don't. It didn't break me per se, and the lesson was in that for me, was to always, always get back to your why, reconnect with your why. Why are you doing that? Because my why and the team's why was different. And once I figured that out and understood that, I did some rebranding with them and it turned out a little bit better. But I went through the same thing. It happens right.

Speaker 1: 6:34

So every mistake is a potential marketing story. You made a bad hire. Share that journey in a blog post you launched too soon. You can create a product with different timing, or better timing If it's seasonal. You signed a shady deal. Talk about contracts and your boundaries. You talk about it. It's important because you know we all we all, we all make mistakes. Like I said before, turn your scar into a story that sells. Turn your loss into a lesson people will pay to learn from. Your brand doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be real, raw and human.

Speaker 1: 7:26

So let's get tactical. I want you to write down this and actually do it this week. Number one write out your mistakes in two to three sentences. Number two list three lessons you learned. Number three identify one action step you can take within 48 hours to move forward. Okay, then, when you do all those three things, email it to yourself and title it evidence of my comeback.

Speaker 1: 8:01

Okay, we don't just bury our past, we build on it. You're not behind, you're not broken. You're becoming Bad decisions. Don't define your business. Your next one does. So go make a good one, go make a good decision. And before you close this out again, can you just subscribe? Because we just don't talk shop, we talk survival, comeback stories and building businesses that outlast the burnout. I just want to touch, of course. I want to touch on this because it's relatable, it happened to me. Because it's relatable, it happened to me.

Speaker 1: 8:50

I, you know, when I talk to people and I talk about business with them, I always say I took, I took a few more losses than wins a few years back. Right, and I don't shy away from it because it's the truth. Right, and people who small business owners, startups, they need to hear that because you know you don't want to get into the mindset of I'm going to win straight out the gate, because that does not happen at all. It takes time to get those wins and get those steady wins. You have more losses, more mistakes, more hiccups than you do, and that's okay, as that's okay as long as you learn from them, right, as long as you learn from and you understand your why in every step of the way.

Speaker 1: 9:34

Um and I didn't know that a few years ago. I didn't know what my why was, I didn't even understand what question was all about. But after going through a series of losses and partnerships and working and collaborating with different people, I took a step back and I asked myself these questions and if, if there like was ever a time where that scenario came back, I went back to the past of that same scenario and um took a better path, took a better path and and vocalize that with the people I work with now, when I do anything or any collaborations with anybody, my intentions are to communicate what my vision is, because sometimes, when you work with other people, your vision and their vision is totally different. But if you communicate it, that's where you come in and maybe get on the right path, because it can turn into a really bad business decision right off the gate, right right at the beginning and you don't know that because you don't you're not communicating your why with the person you're teaming up with. So I just wanted to do this episode.

Speaker 1: 11:05

Like I said, there's so many facets of your startups, creators and things that entrepreneurs go through. There's so many different things and it can be overwhelming. And I'm always one of those people who likes to have the conversation, uh, when I meet people and uh, and one thing a lot of us have in common is bad decision making, especially in the beginning. We don't know, you know, we just jump into it. So, anyway, thank you for listening. I don't want to keep rambling on, but thanks for listening. Please again, hit that subscribe button and maybe I'll do a part two. I can bring on a guest and we can talk about more situations with bad decisions and how to overcome them and what was the outcome when they did overcome them. Thanks again for listening. I will talk to you guys later. Thank you, bye.