When Things Don’t Go as Planned in Business

It’s normal for things to not always go as planned in business.

When was the last time in your business (or life) that things didn’t go as you planned? Assuming you can answer that question, you’re not alone!

The truth is, rarely does something work out *exactly* as we planned it.

This is true even in business, even when we follow someone’s launch plan to a tee, when we complete all the “assignments* our coach gives us, or we post on social media every day. Yep… even then, things don’t always go as planned.

The more we normalize this, the better.

But when was the last time you saw someone on Instagram talking about how things didn’t go as planned in their business? Probably never.

They’re all talking about how things went exactly right — or even better than expected — and now they’re selling you on *their* plan (which, let’s face it, may or may not have produced the results they claim)!

The truth is that we are all human, we are all learning, and this is a constant in business and in life.

The more we can normalize things not going as planned, the better.

The real work, then, is being OK when things don’t go as planned: Not making it about you, that you did something “wrong”, that you weren’t good/perfect/spiritual enough to make something happen, or that you’re not meant to be doing this work.

I see this all the time… Someone launches or even just shares a post on social media and they don’t see the results they want, so they give up. They get so discouraged and defeated when they are barely even out of the gate.

Don’t get me wrong. I know how this feels.

For one of my launches I followed (insert famous person who teaches how to launch courses) plan to a T. Based on the numbers provided, I “failed.” I did not get the response that I was told I should be getting. I first assumed that I was wrong or I did something wrong, instead of assuming that her plan was wrong for me, or that my own sales cycle might be longer, or (insert any other variables here).

There are MANY reasons why things don’t go as planned. Some are in your control, and most are not. That’s just life… and business.

A new approach when things don’t go as planned

Because you can’t avoid it, you might as well shift your approach and response to it.

This is why I encourage my clients to think about business as an experiment.

You’re experimenting with offers and marketing, testing things out, and seeing what works. You’re staying neutral about the results, learning from them, and going on to experiment again. (And extra bonus points if you can make the experiments FUN for you, so that you actually enjoy them!)

Growing your business is a long game, especially if you are committed to your growth and the growth of your business. Especially when you have a mission or purpose you want to fulfill through your work. The more we can embrace this, the better.

This doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to stack the odds in your favor, or that it’s just a total crap shoot.

You can. You can focus on things you can control.

• You can build up your own resilience and self-trust so you don’t take your results personally.
• You can embrace the experiment that is business — and have FUN with it.
• You can choose strategies that feel good and aligned with you.
• You can be so tapped into your purpose in your work that you are willing to keep showing up and do what it takes to make it happen.

If you do those things, you are on the path to success.

This is the inner and outer work of being an entrepreneur and what I support clients with as a holistic business coach. If you want to learn more, you can check out how I work with clients.