MY EXPERIENCES WITH “NO” IN BUSINESS

This afternoon a customer told me he was no longer interested in doing business with my startup company Defia Art Services. I was very sad but not shocked because I am used to being told NO since I started running my own business. He is one of the many people who decided not to purchase or commission an artwork with my company after expressing interest. I was very sad because he is a prominent politician and his commissioned artwork would have given me a lot of opportunities. I have not yet asked him why he lost interest, I will find the appropriate time to go see him and ask him.

I do not take failure or being told NO easy, I get very sad and refuse to repeat the same thing for fear of being told NO or failing again. For this reason, I always do things I am good at or ask people I know will never say NO to me. Starting this art business has changed that. I have experienced a lot of failures, disappointments and losses in other aspects of my life except in business, so this was surprising to me. I thought everything would go on smoothly. This shows that that most of the things we experience with our personal relationships and schools, we will experience similar in our business relationships with our customers.

I have been told more NO in the last 6 months than I have heard in 20 years that I can remember. Initially it was difficult for me to continue the art business and I wanted to quit but so many young and talented artists depend on the success of this business so I had to continue. During the first exhibition, I worked with 18 artists and after the exhibition I met more of them. Every night I go to bed knowing that that the success of Defia Art Services means the success of more than 100 artists that I want to work with. So there is no quitting for me, no matter how hard it becomes financially, emotionally and physically.

This afternoon after the politician incident, I became disappointed for a few minutes, then I went back to work. I did not become depressed nor mope over the loss. I dealt with it as part of life, where you lose some and gain some, that is how I have decided to deal with all my failures, disappointments and losses in business.

One important thing I learnt in business is that rejection does not mean you are not good. You can produce the best products in the world, and someone will reject them. It could be due to so many reasons. So I do not blame myself nor my products for being rejected. Maybe the customer genuinely does not need my product, it does not mean the customer thinks my products are not good.

I am very grateful for all the challenges I have gone through so far because they thought me patience, tolerance and determination. Every time someone said NO to me, I worked harder to improve, and also look for more customers who might be interested. No challenges means no extra hard work.

Startups are very difficult to maintain, so if you out there already going thought this, you should know there are so many of us facing similar situations. If you are now about to start your own company, you should be ready for the challenges.

Do not let one person’s NO, end your dreams. Take that emotion you felt in that moment and go work hard till you start hearing YES.