Barbara Winter who writes a terrific blog about supporting yourself as an entrepreneur had a great post the other day, "
Blase is not a Power Tool". It's worthwhile to read her whole piece. She mentioned a quote from Winston Churchill that struck me as appropriate for this week and this business. " Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm."
I stopped by the Garrison Art Center Fine Art and Craft Fair over the weekend. It's a show I've done for many years and have always loved . My back problems kept me from doing it this year, but I enjoyed just visiting for an afternoon. Chatting with vendors whom I've known for some time, and meeting some of our new team members, we discussed how the show was going. Most said there were plenty of people but that sales were down. But there was no grousing. One man said this was the first show he's done this summer that the weather was so good - he's experienced high winds, torrential rains. But he showed me pictures he's taken of some sights in this area that he plans to draw and turn into future offerings. Other long time jewelers said that while this show was down, they hoped the one next weekend would bring them back up to where they need to be. In the meantime they're thinking of other ways they can boost their sales, increasing variety of products, considering online sales. Some people who were first timers were pleased with the responses they were getting from visitors and anticipate that that may translate into sales down the road as people get to know them. Everyone mentioned how much they love this gorgeous location on the Hudson River, how friendly the other vendors are.
This particular show certainly didn't qualify as a failure. But I've known several of these folks to experience real failures before getting here - not even making booth fees, putting up with unhelpful organizers, disastrous weather. And yet here they are; they smile, they're generous with their neighbors, they're eager to go on to the next thing, they're coming up with new ideas. They are full of enthusiasm. It seems to me that they are successful.
Have you had shows that you'd classify as failures? What helps you keep up your enthusiasm when situations don't match your expectations?
