Einstein said that the only source of knowledge is experience. How true this may be in the business world! Particularly when you are tackling unknown issues and managing potential disasters without a compass to guide you.
The funny thing about experience is that it not only needs to be actively gained, it needs to be proactively utlized. To make this more tangible, imagine three people sitting in a meeting, watching the same negotiation taking place. One spectator simply watches and waits for the discussion to end, taking nothing from it; the next person watches to learn the negotiation styles and to improve their own skills; the third person uses this opportunity not just to broaden their knowledge, they actively use what they have learnt in various scenarios so that the new experience is embedded into their own psyche.
When in your own business many experiences are new and take you into the unknown. Unfortunately, your particular lack of experience may have negative consequences for your business. Therefore, as a business owner you have a few options, such as putting yourself in as many spheres of experience that you can gain, learning vicariously through the experiences of others, specifically asking others who have walked a similar path to yourself, and using a Business Coach who is able to see the situation conceptually, as well as drilling down into the particular area of experience that will assist you directly in your business.
Business experience is an ongoing learning, yet the more you gain, the easier your path becomes.
“Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward.”
Oscar Wilde