This is the final of the 8 Deadly Sins You Must Avoid in Business.

7. Afraid of failure

Many business owners and entrepreneurs are so afraid of failure that they avoid it or any kind of discomfort. We must come to terms with the fact that sometimes, things will not turn out the way we wanted them to. After all, the true path to success is rarely an easy one.

It takes a lot of hard work to grow a successful business, and those who aren’t willing to work for it probably aren’t going to get there. Failure can be very painful but it is inevitable in the world of business. It’s our ability to deal with failure that matters more than the failure itself as it’s what will define us as winners or as losers.

An American entrepreneur by the name of David Feinleib summarised it thus: ‘Entrepreneurship involves repeated failure, and sometimes very public failure. Your response to this failure determines your survival as an entrepreneur. The art of being an Entrepreneur with a capital E is figuring out how to manage your ego not through the highs of success but through the lows of failure. Failing fast is healthier for your ego, and it’s also healthier for your company and for your wallet.’

Avoiding failure and discomfort leads to keeping bad hires on the team, missed opportunities of all sizes, stalled growth, and ultimately leads to dead businesses. One of the greatest problems people have with failure is that they are too quick to judge isolated situations in their lives and label them as failures. When interpreted well, failure is part of the success path. Failure isn’t the end; it’s valuable feedback on our way to business success. What we considered as failures are treasures of knowledge that can’t be traded for anything.

Studying the lives of great entrepreneurs and business owners, I discovered that they made terrible mistakes at one stage of building their enterprises or another. But more importantly, they made prompt corrections and moved on! Someone remarked that ‘Failing fast is one mark of great entrepreneurs. Fail fast—since it’s not failure itself that will kill your company but failing slowly that will do you in’.

8. Not Following your intuition

This world is so full of circumstances and variables, not even the most literate, knowledgeable, well-mannered, and well-intended businessman or woman can give you a sure roadmap to your business success. So, the ability to work by intuition can be acquired in any walk of life, especially when it has been nurtured. It comes as the result of prolonged effort and reflection and application and failures and trying again, which opens our inner senses. Then, in the end, one knows things without knowing how one knows them.

 For whatever we are building in the business world, it’s imperative that we test, tweak, adapt, and more importantly, follow your intuition. We may have other names for intuition: deep knowing, hunch, gut, feeling, awareness, premonition, or instinct. Whatever you call it, you can use your intuition for business success. Every man knows that in his work he does best and accomplishes most when he has attained a proficiency that enables him to work intuitively.

Assumptions, even when based on sound research, can lead us astray. The point here is not to discard facts and data but to still listen to our intuition even when it’s contrary to sound research. Intuition always wins! There is in every man a knowing capacity that transcends intellectual knowledge. I can attest to that. Intuition is a taste of divine deposit in us. It’s a deep and convincing knowing that comes without any formal training or schooling. If your intuition tells you that there’s a better way to do things, by all means, go with it.

When all data and figures and numbers are right, and your intuition is saying no, please listen to your intuition – it is a much superior voice. This is where many business owners and entrepreneurs miss it. As a matter of fact, most business sufferings come from violations of intuitive leads.

As I conclude this article, note that balance is the key to your business’ success. To achieve balance in business, you must stay away from these 8 deadly sins, and it will make all the difference. At times the shift in mindset and skill-set are needed to significantly serve your market better, and hence build the business of your dream. You may need to hear it again; nothing can stop you but you if your business must happen!