Fail Forward: How Young Entrepreneurs can Turn Failures into Learning Opportunities Even big names and successful entrepreneurs have faced challenges on the way to success. What makes them successful is that they embrace failure and learn from their failure.

Your first year in business is usually full of challenges but also success. While success is more rewarding, it's common to have failures on your way that teach you valuable lessons. When I first established my own bookstore, I thought it would just be a matter of stocking books and selling them- that was a huge mistake. When I was ready to sell, there wasn't any customer to buy, so from there on I started to go back and see what I should implement to reach my customers. From there I started to take more courses about how to market my bookstore in a proper way, I started to view my unplanned obstacles as learning opportunities that can shape myself and my business and lead to success.

Embrace Failure as Part of the Journey

It's very important to know that failing a task or a project is very normal and happens often as part of entrepreneurship. Even big names and successful entrepreneurs have faced challenges on the way to success. What makes them successful is that they embrace failure and learn from their failure. If you understand the concept behind failure and turn it into an opportunity to improve or grow, you can turn over challenges with a very positive thinking.

Analyze What Went Wrong

When you plan something, but you suddenly get something unexpected, take a step back and have everything in front of you, to analyze and evaluate the situation. You should always ask yourself, "what was wrong or not considered?" and "why?" Understanding the cause of that failure will help you to avoid making the same mistake in the future.

I usually have it all in front of me on my desk to just remind me of what happened and need to take care of it next time.

For example, if your marketing strategy didn't catch any sales or bring new interested customers, have a look at the methods you used. Did you target the right audience? Was your message clear and engaging? By studying such things before doing the campaign you will be prepared to modify your advertisement next time.

Change and Improve

Once you know what was wrong, now it's time to make some changes. In this step the real learning happens! Some people adjust the business model, remake their products, or even change their marketing strategies, because without creating the changes you will never know it's right unless tested.

If you are changing or modifying your original ideas or plan that doesn't mean your idea wasn't good- it just means you are refining to make it a better and stronger idea. Being flexible to adopt, change and improve is the nature of entrepreneurship.

Build Resilience

One of the success keys for entrepreneurs is the ability to step back after a setback- it is crucial in the world of business. Every time you come across a challenge, you become stronger and resilient to better deal with such problems in the future. Resilience is about having positive actions and continuing to believe in your vision, even when things get hard. When you focus on your long-term goals you will be able to step forward and face setbacks.

You shouldn't be afraid of failure; it's always a new opportunity to learn and know more things that could make you and your business better. Never be afraid to ask for help or share your challenges with others who you really know would help you, because then you can turn challenges into opportunities for growth. Remember that every successful entrepreneur has gone through failure too, and it's how you respond to these challenges that will shape your future success.