Failure teaches us resilence

I have a friend who realized 1 year into a software engineering job that he was not cut out for a corporate job.He was creative, thought out of the box and did not like the rigid confines of 9-5.He had his own ideas about starting a business of his own and of running it in his own way.

He found 2 more partners and they started a business after he left his corporate job holding equal stakes in the company.

The company was an interface between travel agents and local hotels for a particular geography and revenue was earned charging commissions from both parties.The margins were low but they managed to build enough scale in 3 years to be close to breakeven.However, the business failed going forward with the advent of Airbnb and the likes.

My friend and his team was shattered.Their hopes were crushed.They mourned the loss for a few weeks but bounced back soon enough.They had learnt resilience and ability to return to normal state after a downturn during the course of the business building.

They decided not to let this ruin the beautiful life they have .They had learnt skills in operations, people management ,financial and stakeholder management and client acquisition-all vital to run a business.They decided to capitalize on skills at hand rather than mourning the loss endlessly and look forward to what can be done next.My friend founded a new company in the internet  advertising space using all the knowledge he had.His other two friends also founded new companies-one in tech space,  the other in online fashion.

The new businesses bring their own challenges to their table which they continue to welcome.

The failure overhauled their resilience.They are stronger than cast iron today.

Respect for the trio!