Failing To Succeed by Zig Zigler

Failure Is A Step To Success

"You've got to learn to lose in order to win" sounds like strange advice, but the man who says it has earned over three hundred million dollars. Even in today's economy, that's a considerable sum of money. Here's the story.

In 1958, brothers Frank and Dan Carney started a pizza parlor across from their family's grocery store. Their goal was to pay for their college educations. Nineteen years later, Frank Carney sold the 3,100-outlet chain called "Pizza Hut" for three hundred million dollars.

Carney's advice to those starting out in business sounds strange, but he explains the concept this way: "I've been involved in about fifty different business ventures and about fifteen of them were successful. That means I have about a thirty percent success average."

The point Frank makes is this: You need to be "at bat" if you ever expect to get a hit, and it's even more important to step back up to the plate after you strike out.

Carney says Pizza Hut was successful because he learned from his mistakes. For example, when an Oklahoma City expansion effort failed, he realized the importance of location and decor. He learned from his mistake so that the future would be brighter. When sales declined in New York, he came up with the innovative idea of introducing thick crust pizza with substantial success. When regional pizza houses began to take part of the market share, Frank responded by introducing "Chicago-style pizza," and again success came his way. Factually, Carney failed many times, but in each case he made those failures work for him.

Failure is an experience common to all of us. Question: Will you let those failures work for you or against you? If you do as Frank Carney did, you will use your failures as learning experiences and I really will SEE YOU AT THE TOP!