Q: Steve, I think I am done with the self-employment thing. You talk about it like it is so great and all, but I just lost $10,000 and now I probably have to go back to work for a boss I really don’t like. I wish I didn’t, but what choice do I have? - Olivia

A: I have a question for you:

Have you ever heard ofOswald the Lucky Rabbit?

Unless you are a cartoon historian, the answer is probably no. Long before he ever started the Disney Company, Walt Disney was just another illustrator trying to break into the business. Long before Micky Mouse, Oswald was Disney’s first attempt at creating an iconic character. The thing was however, especially back then, Walt Disney was a heck of an artist and an equally bad businessman. So bad was he in fact that at one point he had to file for bankruptcy and in the process, lost the rights to Oswald.

Fortunately for us all of course, Disney learned a lesson or two, remained committed to the vision, and became, well, Walt Disney. As he later said, “You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

I have started four businesses, but it was the one I started that didn’t work out as planned that taught me the most. Look, the fact is, if you are going to be an entrepreneur, at some point you are going to fail. That’s the nature of the gig. It is, as they say, what you do after that that matters.

Bill Gates famously dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft, right? Wrong. His first business, with co-founder Paul Allen, was intended to analyze traffic flow. “Traf-O-Data” was a flop before Microsoft was a hit.

As Gates says, “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose.”

As we all know, In the 1970s, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak invented the Apple Computer in Jobs’ parent’s garage. Apple is Apple now of course, but along the way, Jobs had some spectacular failures, including

  • The Lisa, a $10,000 personal computer that was the precursor to the Macintosh. Such a flop was this expensive, heavy (50 lbs.!), unloved beast that they ended up burying most of them in the Utah desert.
  • Getting fired from the company he founded and spending a decade away from it.

Jobs later said this: “I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”

At age 40, Henry Ford had already filed for bankruptcy and had first car company go out of business (The Detroit Automobile Company.)

Finally, consider this list I once compiled for one of my books (one of my books that was a hit, not one of the ones that flopped.)

Consider this man’s life:

1832—Lost job.

1833—Failed in business.

1834—Elected to state legislature.

1835—Girlfriend died.

1836—Had nervous breakdown.

1846—Elected to Congress.

1848—Lost renomination.

1854—Defeated for U.S. Senate.

1856—Defeated for nomination for vice president.

1858—Defeated for U.S. Senate again.

1860—Elected president.

And what does the venerable Abraham Lincoln have to say about failure?

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.”

So my friends the question is not, will you fail? You will. I will too. The question is, what will you learn, how will you grow, and whether or not you will choose to let it define you.

Today’s tip: Do most small business owners tap into the full marketing power of the web? According to the newWeb.comSmall Business Digital Trends Report, the answer is no.

  • 26% of the respondents say they have only a single-page website
  • Only 17% say they plan to add SEO to their online marketing strategy in 2017
  • While I am happy to report that 88% embrace social media, the vast majority also report roadblocks when doing so.

Great stuff here, and also, ways to make the web work better for your business. You can learn more, here.