The Startup Therapy Couch™: Setbacks will happen, and it's ok!

Setbacks. Delays. Snafus. Whatever name you give them, they are going to happen. So what do you do? Do you freak out? Do you run around like a chicken with your head cut off?

Uh, not our recommendation.

1 - Take a deep breath. Remember to be kind to yourself, your co-workers or co-founders, and any vendors or suppliers involved. If you intend to keep going, you'll need these people on your side!

2- Learn from the setback. What caused it? What could you have done to prevent it? If there isn't anything that could have been done, could you have communicated or estimated better? Is there anything that should change that will ensure this setback doesn't happen again?

3- Improve your process, if possible. If you identify something that is a change or improvement you can make to prevent this type of setback in the future, DO IT!

4- MOVE ON. Once you've done a "post mortem" on the setback and discovered whether there is anything that could have been done or anything to do in the future, it's time to move past it and keep going. And communicate, communicate, communicate with whomever was directly impacted by the setback, whether customers, downstream vendors, suppliers or employees, investors, ANYONE. Over-communication IS a thing, but it's not usually a thing of which companies are typically guilty.

Be respectful and generous with anyone else involved, get them into the process of exploration with you, and work with them to get the project back on track as a team.

You can do this. And if you start feeling like you can't... Revisit step 1 above. 

Cheers!