Fear of failure is what sets apart the normal worker-bee from the entrepreneur. A difference in levels of fear results in a preternatural acceptance of or disinclination to entrepreneurial activities. When I accept the possibility of failure and embrace that I am more likely to take a risk, I can begin to act entrepreneurially.

Recently, I came across an article about Dragon’s Den, the British TV sensation where entrepreneurs are given a chance to pitch their concept. The article profiled one inventor, hairdresser Shaun Pulfrey, whose invention was brutally harangued. “And when he asked for an £85,000 investment in exchange for a 15 per cent stake in his fledgling business, he was bluntly advised that he was not worth it.” However, Pulfrey got the last laugh. His “turnover in the past ten months has been £800,000 - landing him a profit of £200,000.” His initial failure on the show didn’t slow him down, a bit.

Pulfrey is not the only example of this happening. In fact many of those laughed at by the Dragon’s Den big wigs have turned out to make a profit. See the chart below:

While the initial failure may be daunting, the eventual payoff for accepting that failure and continuing to move forward could be great. So, let the worker bees work away in their unwilling acceptance of failure, in the end what do you really have to lose by trying?

Tags: British TV, Dragons Den, Global Entrepreneurship Week, Shaun Pulfrey

This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 10:10 am and is filed under Challenges, Innovators. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.