How to recover from a bad business decision

Be it in our personal lives or at work, every single one of us makes mistakes. More often than not, mistakes can be handled quite easily. After all, they’re a part of life and there isn’t a single person on this planet that hasn’t made both big and little errors regularly throughout their time here.

Unfortunately, things do get more complicated when you make a business mistake, especially if the company you work for is high-profile and has a number of employees. In these situations, a simple mistake can suddenly turn into a scandal covered by news outlets thus damaging your companies brand reputation. More importantly, a bad business decision will probably impact the lives of your employees, which is by far the worst possible outcome.

Of course, you don’t need to be a CEO of a big company to be responsible for a bad business decision. You may run a small business or may have invested time, money and effort into a lost cause. Whatever the story behind your bad business decision may be, chances are your fundamental reaction will be the same as everyone else’s: regret.

How To Deal With The Regret

Shame and regret are by far some of the most potent emotions we human beings are capable of creating. Even though we know we’ve made a huge mistake, our brains and bodies continue to make us carry the burden emotionally, forcing us to work through a process of healing. This is the first step that must come even before you can apologise to anyone else, as saying sorry to others will only have positive effects on you once you’ve already started to forgive yourself.

Remember that there have been millions of people before you who have had to deal with these same emotions, many of which probably made even worse decisions. For instance, according to an infographic published by iGaming platform Betway Casino, a company named Excite turned down the opportunity to buy Google for just $750K back in 1999. Of course, Google is now worth well over $367 billion and Excite, well, we’re not entirely sure what they’re doing. Several other examples of horrendous business decisions on the infographic include Decca record’s decision to not sign the Beatles, Blockbusters’ refusal to partner with Netflix and Motorola’s reluctance to develop smartphones. We can guarantee that every single one of these business decisions was worse than yours, and while that doesn’t get you off the hook, it may help you gain a little perspective.

Take Responsibility

Taking responsibility is an absolutely crucial step as you will never truly be able to own the one emotions you have surrounding this event or be able to genuinely ask for forgiveness if you don’t do so. Not only will owning the situation allow you to truly learn from your mistakes, but it will also teach others that you are willing to be wrong, to be humble and that is an incredible trait to have.

A fantastic example of taking responsibility for a bad business decision is Apple CEO Tim Cook, who took complete ownership of problems surrounding Apple Maps. “We strive to deliver the best possible experience to our customers. We fell short on this commitment,” Cook stated in a blog post, which unfortunately is no longer available but was reported in The Guardian. “We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we’re doing everything we can to make Maps better.” No arguing, no point-scoring, no excuses: Cook simply took responsibility and was able to carry on with his job.

In addition to showing humility, Cook also took this time to ensure his company as a whole would do better, leading many to believe that the Apple Maps Fiasco changed the company entirely. This leads us to our next and final point on your journey to recovering from a bad business decision.

Refocus and Return to the Grind

A single misstep should by no means stop you from continuing to make business decisions, especially if you have learned to forgive yourself and taken responsibility. It may be hard to believe in your abilities again, and really there is no absolute certainty that another mistake doesn’t lie in the future, but with what you’ve learned, you’re sure to far better at making decisions. This is especially true when compared to others who are yet to make a blunder or those who have but haven’t chosen to grow from it.

Be more like Tim Cook than the company Excite and continue your grind, adapting with every passing problem and continuing to grow. Sure, a bad decision may set you back but only you can bring yourself to a complete halt.

We hope we’ve helped you to deal with any bad business decision you may have made, and please feel free to let us know in the comments below if you yourself have any tips on bouncing back. There are plenty of business owners in Exeter and we’re sure you have some great advice between you.