A quick search of Amazon reveals dozens of books written about business failures. The subject of what not to do is extremely popular. It works on several levels–there are practical lessons to be learned from flops, but it also makes you feel a little bit better about your own business mistakes. “Well, at least I didn’t do something that stupid…”
Although they are interesting and informative, these types of writing offer very little helpful information on what to do when you make a mistake. Perhaps a shipment doesn’t go out, or you make an error in a calculation, or some other minor catastrophe threatens your reputation and your relationship with a client. It can be difficult to navigate these types of situations when most of your time and energy goes into avoiding this scenario.
1. Start working to fix the problem as soon as you find out about it.
2. Apologize.
3. Make a peace offering.
4. Emphasize how important the client is.
Although business owners work very hard to avoid mistakes, we all find ourselves in an unfortunate situation from time to time. Properly handling mistakes is crucial to thriving as a business.
