When Things Don't Go As Planned In Business

When Things Don’t Go as Planned in Business

by Stacey Hagen | Business, Inner Work

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Table of Contents

• It’s normal for things to not always go as planned in business.
  • When was the last time you saw someone talking about their business failures?
• The more we can normalize things not going as planned, the better.
  • Resilience keeps you on the path to success
• A new approach when things don’t go as planned
  • 1. Normalize setbacks and challenges.
  • 2. Build a strong sense of self-worth and resilience.
  • 3. Remain flexible and not tied to any result.
  • 4. Don’t personalize the results.
  • 5. Get a biz bestie or coach who can cheerlead you.
• Growing a business requires navigating business challenges
• Want support navigating business challenges?

It’s normal for things to not always go as planned in business.

When was the last time in your business (or life) that things didn’t go as you planned? Assuming you can answer that question, you’re not alone!

The truth is, rarely does something work out *exactly* as we planned it.

This is true even in business, even when we follow a plan to a tee, when we complete all the assignments our coach gives us, or we do everything right. Yep… even then, things may not go as planned.

The more we normalize this, the better.

When was the last time you saw someone talking about their business failures?

We all know people only post their highlight reels on social media. Think about it… when was the last time you saw someone on Instagram talking about their failures or challenges?

Instead, all the Instagram savvy business owners are talking about how things went exactly right — or even better than expected — and now they’re selling you on *their* plan (which, let’s face it, may or may not have produced the results they claim)!

What we see online isn’t always the truth. Even when someone has experienced real, true, authentic success, it’s often come with a lot of time, hard work, and inner strength.

In business as in life, we are on a journey. We are all learning, all the time, and if everything goes right all the time, we wouldn’t be learning the lessons we need to move to the next stage.

The more we can normalize things not going as planned, the better.

Whether it’s a failed launch, a lower than average conversion rate, an outright rejection for a big opportunity — these things happen to all of us.

Even the most successful business owners have been through many “failures.” (I put failure in quotes because it’s really a learning or a re-direction; not an actual failure.)

The key part of navigating business challenges is building our resilience. Because if we shut down at the first sign of “failure,” we’re not going to get far.

Instead, if we can see a stumbling block as what it is: a chance to pivot, redirect, or  recommit, we build the strength — the resilience — to keep going.

Resilience keeps you on the path to success

Resilience is being OK when things don’t go as planned. It means not taking it personally, not automatically assuming that you did something “wrong” or thinking that you’re not cut out to be a business owner/coach/artist/whatever you desire.

Unfortunately as a business coach, I see this all the time… A new biz owner launches a brand new offer that they’re super excited about… only to experience crickets. Then they think they did something wrong. Or that they’re not meant to do this work. And after being dragged through a shame spiral, they’re tempted to throw in the towel altogether.

Don’t get me wrong. I know how this feels.

For one of my launches I followed (insert famous person who teaches how to launch courses) plan to a T. Based on the numbers provided, I “failed.” I did not get the response that I was told I should get. I first assumed that I was wrong or I did something wrong, instead of assuming that her plan was wrong for me, or that my own sales cycle might be longer, or (insert any other variables here).

Please don’t do this. Please don’t take a setback so personally that your self-worth takes a hit.

There are many many reasons why things don’t work out as planned. They can be external reasons, like timing, or marketing, or algorithms. They can be internal reasons, like a mismatch, lack of confidence, or self-sabotage. Often, they are a combination of the two. Sometimes it’s a universal mystery and we’ll never know why.

A new approach when things don’t go as planned

Because you can’t avoid challenges and setbacks in your business, you might as well shift your approach and response. Here are some practical tips to help when things aren’t going as planned in your business (or life):

1. Normalize setbacks and challenges.

Look, you’re not going to succeed all the time, no one does. Yes, even if you’re meant to be doing the work you’re doing… you’re still not going to succeed all the time. Normalize it.

2. Build a strong sense of self-worth and resilience.

You can’t always control external outcomes. What you can control is your own sense of self-belief and self-trust. The more you can focus on building both of those, the better you’ll feel — no matter what is happening in your business.

3. Remain flexible and not tied to any result.

I encourage my clients to think about business as an experiment. Everything is an experiment, especially at first. You’re making educated guesses and seeing what works, then adjusting accordingly. 

4. Don’t personalize the results.

Your business results don’t mean you’re a bad coach, a bad business owner, or a bad person. Results are just results. They are neutral; they don’t need to mean anything about you. See them as data and go back to the drawing board.

5. Get a biz bestie or coach who can cheerlead you.

We all have times we feel down in business. It sucks to spend a large amount of time on creating something only to have it flop. This is why it’s so important to have someone who can cheer you on, especially in the tough times.

Growing a business requires navigating business challenges

Running a business is a long game, especially if you are committed to your growth and the growth of your business. A long game has twists and turns, but you stay the course.

This doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to stack the odds in your favor, or that it’s just a total crap shoot. You can. You can focus on things you can control.

Here’s what you can control:

• Your self-worth and resilience.
• The way you respond to setbacks.
• Your plan, your strategy, and your contingency plans.
• How fast you get back up and try again.
• What you learn and implement into the next round.

Focus on those things and stay the course. Staying the course is the biggest determinant of your success. Success is inevitable if you simply refuse to give up.

Want support navigating business challenges?

Navigating challenges, moving through the unknown, and dealing with it when things don’t go as planned are all part of running a business. But you don’t have to do it alone. If you want to explore business coaching as a support resource, take the first step.

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