I am a failing entrepreneur, and am proud of it. Until a couple of months ago, I used to wonder why people boast about their failed entrepreneurial ventures. To me, it always sounded like glorifying one’s mistakes. I thought it strange that people were talking so wondrously about failing dramatically in making their businesses a viable success! Was I the only one that seemed to think it was a bad idea? Then, half a year ago, something amazing happened…

With a few friends and a radical idea, I began on an entrepreneurial journey of my own. We are still on that road and we are constantly making mistakes—failing. At every step of the turn, we face challenges—both technological & financial—and we are failing. We are getting past most of them, but we are also dramatically failing at some of them, only to realise later, that we should have taken a different path. Nevertheless, we are progressing. All our estimates and projections have been blown out of the water and the competition is closing in on us fast. What seemed like a path breaking idea only half a year ago is now slowly starting to appear on tech blogs and in conferences. Lucky for us, it still features in the ‘…in the future’ section. For now we are safe. But we also know that it won’t take long for the competition to catch up on the idea.

However, it is this whole journey over the last half year that has been so very rewarding. We have had our disagreements, our debates, our missed deadlines and our catastrophic goof-ups. But one thing is certain; we are in this for the long haul. For now, we will just bunker down and grow organically. We are also learning how our clients from different industry verticals want to use our products. We are only the ‘enablers’ here. They are the ‘shapers’. We are learning new things with them at every step of the way.

When I go back and read about everything that the failed entrepreneurs have to say, I realise that they must have learnt so much from these mistakes. The experience would have made them far better than when they started out. No wonder then, that these people flaunt it around like a medal of honour. I also read somewhere that when the US Army is looking to form an elite team of commandos for a task, they look for people that have failed and bounced back. That experience makes them handle situations better!

This has been a fascinating journey so far and I can’t wait to see what the next phase will bring to our lives. We will no doubt fail again, but we will stand up as we always have, taller than before. Wiser from the experience and yet, more cautious, we are in this for the long haul and we are committed.

I am a failing entrepreneur, and am proud of it.