Turning setbacks into greenbacks

One of the things every business would love to be able to do is turn all of their setbacks into greenbacks. While this is a lofty goal, it is not unachievable. Sometimes the obstacles your business face is what makes them stronger, and prepares them to be a market leader, who engage their customers, and provide the quality of product and service that the people expect. The following are three great tips for how you can turn your business setbacks into greenbacks:

1. Learn from mistakes- The most important thing you can do to turn your setbacks into greenbacks is actually learn from your mistakes. So very many companies make the mistake of doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. If you want to improve, grow, and gain more market share, you have to learn from the things you are doing wrong, and improve your company. Any time you face a setback, do an evaluation of what happened. Figure out where the weak points are, what your company did wrong, what you could have done better, etc. Learn from your mistakes. Help your employees to learn from their mistakes.

2. Look for opportunities to turn weakness into strengths- Beyond learning from your mistakes, look at the areas in your business that are not necessarily mistakes, but areas that you could improve on. Do an evaluation of your business. Note your strengths, note your weaknesses, then address those weaknesses. If you are losing market share because you are not offering a high enough quality product, look for ways you can improve quality control. If you can turn your strengths into weaknesses, you will make existing customers happier, and gain new customers who may have chosen a competitor over you because of this weakness. This can mean more money, and a larger market share.

3. Get rid of your fat- Another huge way to turn your setbacks into greenbacks is that having a business set back forces you to evaluate your company for waste. If you do not have extra cash flow, you will be quick to cut out those unnecessary expenses, or downsize employees who are not efficient and productive. While this is never a happy scenario, it helps you to trim your company fat. It is similar to a person whose personal finances are tight. They learn through necessity how to stretch the dollar further. If they can do that when times aren't tight, they will be far better off. The same holds true for business. Setbacks force you to be smarter with time, money, and business resources, teaching you valuable skills that lead to greater profit margins later on in your business.

Most of the time your setbacks won't instantly turn around and make you money, but you can make the most of them, learn from them, and grow as a company because of the challenges you face. It is a matter of perspective.