Some Brilliant Mistakes
Every entrepreneur errs, but these fumbles often provide a model for later success. Just ask Thomas Edisonor Bill Gates
This article is for subscribers only.
Chances are, if you've been in business for any period of time, you've made a mistake. In fact, if you're an entrepreneur, making mistakes is part of your DNA, since entrepreneurs are invariably risk takers, and those that take risks make mistakes (see BusinessWeek.com, 7/10/06, "How Failure Breeds Success").
The key is to learn from those mistakes. Success is success, but it's rarely, if ever, achieved without failure along the way. After all, if it weren't for a few mistakes, those famous bicycle builders from Dayton, Ohio—Wilbur and Orville Wright—would never have flown for 12 seconds, 120 feet above in Kitty Hawk, N.C. And then where would modern aviation be?