In the world of social enterprises, failure is a cringe-worthy moment nobody wants to talk about. But, social entrepreneurs can benefit from their failures.
In every business, not just social enterprises, failure can be the best platform for innovation. Take Victoria Beckham, for example. Her failed solo career paved the way for her fashion success. According to Martin Murphy, of Failure Consulting, “failure of a social enterprise becomes not just a failure of the particular business but a failure to prove the strongly held belief that there is a better way [of doing business].” However, learning from failure doesn’t just happen overnight. Social enterprises that learn to learn will foster the flexibility that maximizes their chances of becoming sustainable in the long run.