Leaving your cushy job and competing in the market with a fresh new idea or a product takes immense patience, labor, and sleepless nights. You will face numerous rejections while pitching our vision to investors till you eventually land success. Check out these tips to handle rejections in a healthy way and bounce back from your failure.
1. Roar, scream, and don’t reject your emotions
Keeping your emotions locked inside and putting on a brave face is a very unhealthy behavior. You may be the most driven and goal-oriented entrepreneur. Nonetheless, you’re only human and rejections would hurt when they come. When you face back-to-back rejections for some time, you would get angry, sad, frustrated, and experience a wild cocktail of emotions at the same time.
It’s perfectly fine to take a moment and let those feelings out. Letting your feelings out doesn’t make you weak, but helps you heal and presents you with a clear mind to improve. Go out for a run, scream in your room, pour out your feelings and rant to your friend or partner, go to the gym, and box it out. Let the emotions out so that you can move on and focus on your startup.
2. Evaluate why you got rejected
After you get rejected and let out your emotions, it’s crucial to figure out all the possible reasons behind the rejection. That’s the only way you can improve and forge a new path towards success. Keep a cool head and quickly ask the investors why you got rejected. Be as polite as possible so that you can get their unfiltered and valuable feedback.
Make sure to ask short and precise questions about the pitch, your business plan, the features of your product, and more. If they are accommodating enough, ask them where you can make improvements. Sometimes, you may have a product idea that is not ready for the market or an inexperienced market.
3. Learn about investors
If you have watched shows like Shark Tank, you know that some investors might be interested in your offerings while others may be enthusiastic about your product. When you go to pitch your idea to investors, you are usually going to a certain venture capital firm or angel investors instead of a group of investors with different foundations.
That’s why you need to investigate and research your investors to design the perfect pitch. Learn their preferences, figure out the type of projects they have funded, and check out the industries they are invested in. This won’t just help you refine your pitch but also help you identify the investors with the highest likelihood of approving your funding.
4. Treat rejections as motivation fuel
Establishing and running a business isn’t an easy task. You won’t be able to maintain high energy and a go-get-it attitude every day. Rejections would bring you down and demotivate you when you are already at your lowest. However, you are stronger than this and a rejection doesn’t define who you are. Instead, use every rejection as a fuel source for propelling yourself forward and staying motivated.
The lessons you obtain from each rejection add to your experience and knowledge. Each rejection corrects your path and helps you get closer to your destination. Don’t give up since all those rejections don’t matter. Stay strong till you find that one investor who offers you seed funding.
Rejections are part of your inspiring story. They don’t decide the end of it. Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy and the way you maneuver rejections sets you apart from those who give up. If your startup gets shut down, move on to a fresh idea and remember that you aren’t a failure; just a few steps away from winning.
Amilia Brown is a seasoned business writer & strategist who simplifies complex business concepts and turn them into engaging narratives. As a trusted business writer, she delivers actionable insights with precision.
