The precise message of the advertisement
The literature around entrepreneurship has often been focused on the success of entrepreneurs. However, it has increasingly become important to develop some consensus on the importance of the understanding of the relevance and significance of the concept of entrepreneurial failure. The knowledge of both success and failure is vital to building a holistic understanding of the entire concept of entrepreneurship, and to develop endurance to the challenges associated with the business (Naqvi, 2011). Business failure is a challenging experience that most entrepreneurs have undergone in the history of entrepreneurship. Some individuals have argued that failure has significant impacts on the capacity of the entrepreneurs to make viable decisions after the first decision fails (Mokyr, 2013). Making viable decisions concerning subsequent ventures can be difficult to entrepreneurs who have not succeeded in a pilot project. However, to succeed in business activities does not entirely mean that the entrepreneur has escaped the failure neither does it mean that entrepreneurs who have failed cannot be successful in another trial. Thus, failure is not necessarily the opposite of success, but it is a part of success.
Since the beginning of entrepreneurship, failure in business has remained underresearched area. Most researchers usually concentrate on business success and the cause of entrepreneurial success (Naqvi, 2011). Little emphasis has been put to the research on business failure, and what impacts it can have on the future of the entrepreneurship. Most entrepreneurs decide to venture in some activities with the motive of achieving success, their main goal being to succeed. However, according to Das (2008), the majority of entrepreneurs believe that one venture into a business to succeed or fail. Therefore, they understand the success and failure as two mutually exclusive events whereby an individual either succeed or fail but cannot have the same events occurring at the same time. However, the standing point of the majority of researchers is that the occurrence of business success does not necessarily mean the absence of the failure (Deakins & Freel, 1998). The primary perspectives that some individuals hold regarding the causes of business failure are based on mere speculation and may not represent what actually are the reasons behind the occurrence of the failure. Therefore, intensive investigations using more scientific approaches are needed to unfold the actual meaning of failure and how it is related to success.
The interpretation of the evaluative outlook expressed by the message
The assertion that failure is a part of success is indeed valid from the experience of most entrepreneurs (Mokyr, 2013). Although the two concepts of success and failure have been used to describe the progress of the entrepreneurial activities, the argument that one is the opposite of the other will be invalidated if scientific investigations will be conducted to collect the empirical evidence in the field. An entrepreneur who is determined to succeed in subsequent endeavors should understand the cause of failure as a challenge that can help to increase the probability of achieving the success. The experience of entrepreneurs when they fail in their venture can be understood through interpretative and phenomenological analysis to reveal the impact that failure can have on the potential of entrepreneurship in an economy. Essentially, the theoretical constructs generated from the analysis of causes of entrepreneurial failure do not describe failure as something that can be reversed to yield success. Instead, the theoretical arguments assert that failure leads to challenges that empower the persistent entrepreneurs to pursue their business ambitions (Deakins & Freel, 1998). Therefore, it becomes relevant to argue that failure is part of the success.
The successful entrepreneurs cannot claim to have the success throughout their entrepreneurial life. At times, some circumstances occur that make the entrepreneurs to experience some downturns in their undertakings. Failure often causes grief, which is usually followed by resilience among the entrepreneurs who stick to their values and ethics (Mokyr, 2013). Such resilience tends to shift the perception of entrepreneurs about the failure, and it fuels their efforts to developing adopting mechanisms to make the situation survivable. However, through the occurrence of the failure, most entrepreneurs are able to transform their spirit and attitude, which results in success. Thus, failure can be presented as a phenomenon that stimulates entrepreneurial success by prompting them to develop mechanisms that fuel their efforts in pursuing the success.
Brief comments about the content of the message
The failure and success are two inseparable events, which do not preclude each other. In this sense, failure can be viewed as a subset of the success since the latter is always accompanied by the incidences of the failure. In fact, most entrepreneurs strive to be careful to minimize the chances of occurrence of the failure (Das, 2008). This implies that they understand that the failure can occur to them regardless of their level of success. Identifying and reversing the causes of failure in any undertaking may not necessarily lead to success. Additionally, the environment in which the failure occurs is not the opposite of the environments in which the success is nurtured. Thus, the success and failure appear as two tied concepts that go hand in hand, and the elimination of one may not lead to the improvement in the other.
Deakins & Freel (1998) found that failure is an undesirable experience to entrepreneurs. It leads to grief and the loss of motivation among individuals. However, some factors that lead to failure are beyond human management, and the entrepreneurs can just learn to adapt to them. Despite the presence of these factors, most entrepreneurs are enjoying the success of their ventures. This implies that success exists in the midst of causes of failure where such causes are inevitable. Individuals tap their values and the spiritual beliefs to utilize resources in a manner that minimizes the existence of the failure in their undertakings. Thus, the failure forms part of the success, and it is manifested in the absence of factors that support the success.
References
Das, J. P. (2008). Planning and decision making: Beware of emotions and Illusions. Journal of Entrepreneurship, 17(1), 1-14.
Deakins, D., & Freel, M. (1998). Entrepreneurial learning and the growth process in SMEs. The Learning Organization, 5(3), 144-155.
Mokyr, J. (2013). Cultural entrepreneurs and the origins of modern economic growth. Scandinavian Economic History Review, 61(1), 1-33.
Naqvi, S. W. H. (2011). Critical success and failure factors of entrepreneurial organizations: Study of SMEs in Bahawalpur. Journal of Public Administration and Governance, 1(2), 17-23.
