The importance of failure in business

Dragonfly Aerospace business advisor, David du Toit, says that while “engineers do not like to fail”, it is an important part of the learning curve in business success as well as product development.

Following the launch of their agriculture-focused satellite designed and manufactured locally and launched by SpaceX earlier this month, Du Toit says that they’ve had their fair share of failures in their journey up to now at Dragonfly Aerospace.

“We never want failure but if you look at Elon Musk as an example, he never feared failure,” said Du Toit.

“What the important thing is, failure teaches you sometimes more than success and that’s one of the messages Elon Musk has put down in the market,” he said.

PODCAST: Listen to the full interview with David du Toit

However, he added that there needs to be a limit to failure because a business could fail to the point where commercially it won’t make it.

“I think that in the right percentage, it’s good… we’ve failed in the past, we will have failures in the future, but it’s how we recover,” said Du Toit.

One of the most important benefits of failure is that it teaches resilience. When a business venture doesn't succeed, it can be easy to give up and move on to something else.

ALSO READ:

• How networking can help grow your small business in 2023
• VIDEO MARKETING – Part 1: How to get started

Meanwhile, those who are able to bounce back and keep going are the ones who are most likely to achieve long-term success.

Embracing failure and learning from it is a key aspect to success. Business leaders who are able to learn from their failures and move forward with renewed determination and insight will be the ones who achieve the greatest success in the long run.