“You can’t win big without taking risks.”
“When you fail, you also learn.”
“Winner gets up every time they fall until they win.”
We often hear people mention the variations of these statements.
It happens because we live in a world that applauds risk-taking and those who fail.
True, we take risks when we try something new or bold. And without this, there is no growth.
But doing stuff and not thinking about failure and safeguarding yourself against it is not smart.
We can take a risk and still limit the downside and avoid failing.
Why?
Because failure kills the momentum, and one takes a lot more time to get back on track. So avoid it when you can.
How?
Here is how you can avoid failure and limit the downside if you fail
- Partner with those who have done it before.
- Learn about the rules of the playing field.
- In the case of a business, run on a cost-plus model and put profits before revenues.
- Learn on someone else’s dime first, like by being in a job.
- In the case of a career, by learning continuously to stay ahead of the curve.
- Invest not more than 2% of your net worth in a single company, or don’t invest more than 15% of your net worth in a single asset class.
- Do a premortem of anything you do, ask yourself what could go wrong, and then safeguard yourself against those scenarios.
These are indicative ideas. Think about how you can reduce the downside in your particular situation.
Make sure that you don’t often fail, and even when you do, you don’t fail big.
