Picture this: You’re considering adding a new service offering at your pharmacy, such as immunizations, in order to reach more patients. But, you’re afraid of what it will mean for your business if the service isn’t successful.
So, you decide to forget the idea and continue business as usual.
Meanwhile, your competitor down the street starts offering immunizations, and it’s a huge success. Are you regretting letting your fear of failure stand in your way? Of course you are.
The reality is, if you’re afraid to fail, you’re never going to succeed.
If this scenario sounds all too familiar, follow these six tips to overcome your fear of failure for next time, and continue improving your independent community pharmacy business.
1. Take baby steps
Rather than taking an all-or-nothing approach, try breaking ideas down into small, more manageable tasks.
For example, if you want to open a new pharmacy location, but are scared to take the leap, start by first researching possible locations, exploring potential patient demographics and evaluating your financials.
By taking it one step at a time, you’ll build up confidence and start to overcome your fear of failure.
2. Take your time
When you don’t take your time to do things right, you have a higher chance of failing. That’s because when we get in a hurry to get something done or launch a new idea, we tend to make more mistakes.
When you’re implementing a plan, go slow and take all the necessary steps. Avoid shortcuts, and try not to get ahead of yourself.
By getting all of your ducks in a row and doing things right, you’re more likely to stay on the path to success.
3. Get help
Seeking advice from others can help you move in the right direction and foresee potential problems. Plus, your colleagues and mentors can provide a support system of encouragement, which will help you pick yourself back up even if you do fail.
For example, if you plan to start carrying supplementary diabetes products, ask your coworkers and patients their opinions on which products would be the most beneficial. Additionally, seek advice from physicians who specialize in diabetes care.
4. Celebrate successes
If you’re overly critical of yourself every time something goes wrong, of course you’re going to be afraid to fail.
Instead of always focusing on the negatives, celebrate your successes.
Whenever you take a risk and are successful, make sure to give yourself credit. By celebrating the things that go right, you’ll be more willing to take on challenges knowing that the reward is worth it.
5. Learn from your failures
Everyone is bound to fail at one point or another, no matter how hard you try to avoid it.
When you do experience failure, take it in stride and use the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. By learning from your failures, you’ll be less likely to repeat them.
For example, maybe you tried starting a smoking cessation program, but were unable to get many patients involved, and in turn the program was a bust.
Use your failure as a teaching moment. Step back to assess what went wrong and determine what you can do differently in the future. By focusing more on your marketing efforts and spreading the word about your program through social media and email marketing campaigns, for example, you may entice more people to participate next time.
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