From Setbacks To Triumphs: How Failing Well Can Lead You To Success "Failures didn't sink our entrepreneurial spirit; they brought us to where we are today, and shaped us as entrepreneurs."

This article was co-written by Muna Mustafa, co-founder of SupperClub, a premium membership discount platform providing clients with access to five-star venues and experiences through a single subscription.

With one unsuccessful startup behind us, it might have been easier for us to walk away from entrepreneurship, and return to the corporate world- but we never entertained that as an option. We still had the belief in our ideas, as well as the passion to see them through, but most importantly, we saw that we had failed well, and learned from our mistakes.

For us, failing well put us on the pathway to success with our current venture, SupperClub, thanks to invaluable lessons that we were able to put into practice the second time around. Here's what they were:

1. Leveraging industry insights and market expertise It is important for entrepreneurs to understand their forte and the industry they are operating in before venturing into a business. We were aware of our strengths, and we leveraged those to develop SupperClub. Our understanding of the hospitality industry, consumers, sector insights, and customer pain points was a huge advantage in a crowded marketplace.

Mehreen Omar and Muna Mustafa, co-founders, SupperClub. Source: SupperClub

2. Taking a hands-on approach from day one We recognized the need to do everything ourselves during the initial days; it was all about the hustle. We were not afraid to get our hands dirty, and tackle things we had no expertise in. We overcame the bureaucratic hurdles and trade licence complexities, created our content, and built a website without any real tech skills. There was no backup- it was simply about getting things done. Even moving forward, outsourcing only those tasks that we genuinely cannot handle in-house keeps down costs, while developing our own skills.

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3. Building the first proof of concept is key We built a hollow minimum viable product to sell our concept, and to get our business off the ground. We focused on progress, not perfection, and we went ahead with this mindset to land our first big client, despite not having a functioning website at the time. Simultaneously chasing leads -while creating a basic web presence- helped us to land that first high-profile client, which laid a strong foundation for our business early on.

4. Pivoting in response to market dynamics Our initial idea for SupperClub was different from what it is today. Although it was an innovative idea, and our clients loved it, it was becoming a challenge, and too complicated to execute. We had to be agile, quickly pivot, and change our business model and concept to something that was easier to execute and more scalable.

5. Having a good hold on performance metrics We had a good hold of our metrics and quantifiable data from the beginning, and that is something that has helped us to scale and grow. Startup success is no longer measured solely by the uniqueness of an idea. Startup entrepreneurs need to understand their customer acquisition costs, lifetime value, churn rates, and other key performance indicators, which reflect the viability and scalability of the business, and will help in decision making.

Failing well

We have lost money on failed business ideas or wrong business decisions, but we have failed well, and learned from the experience. Failures didn't sink our entrepreneurial spirit; they brought us to where we are today, and shaped us as entrepreneurs. We have still managed to build a profitable business in an extremely competitive market dominated by industry giants. As such, don't be afraid of failing- it can actually put you on the pathway to success.

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