Every business makes mistakes. But there are certain things your company can do to avoid these three funding disasters in particular, so you don’t find yourself on the wrong side of history when it’s already too late.
The “was the titanic ever found” is a question that has been asked for years. The answer to this question is no, but there are three mistakes that have been made by those who were involved in the construction of the Titanic.
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. Do you have any idea how many firms have failed over that time?
I don’t know, but I’m sure it’s a lot.
There are lessons to be learnt from the Titanic accident that might help avoid future disasters, but what about commercial failures?
The first lesson is to anticipate the unexpected. The Titanic, at the time the world’s biggest ship, was recognized for her superior safety systems, which were advertised in marketing literature that claimed she was “built to be unsinkable.”
It’s important to be realistic in business, whether it’s dealing with shady partners or investors or just assuming that your brilliant concept can’t fail. After all, does anybody build a boat to be sinkable? No, but icebergs really exist! People don’t want for their enterprises to fail, but grandiose goals and unreasonable promises or expectations may cloud a company owner’s judgment. So, take a page from the Titanic’s book and accept the fact that unanticipated occurrences will occur, no matter how “confident” your firm is.
Lesson 2: Make a plan! Because they didn’t pay attention to lesson 1, the Titanic crew left port with just 16 wooden lifeboats and four collapsible lifeboats, with a total capacity of fewer than 1,200 passengers (about a third of the Titanic’s capacity). The ship could have carried 64 lifeboats, allowing more passengers to board a lifeboat than were actually on board. As a result of the crew’s lack of training, numerous lifeboats were sent into the ocean with fewer people on board than they could hold.
A proper business strategy can aid you in avoiding such a disaster in your company. Whether it’s an inventory problem, a cash flow problem, or just about any other business situation, planning ahead of time may go a long way toward saving your company’s life. You can’t simply wing it and hope for the best if your company strategy suggests that you’ll be short on funds. When your cash out surpasses your cash in, banks don’t like that. Nobody has to leap into the water since your plan will notify you whether you need to modify the timing of when you collect on credit (or when you pay debts). (If you’re interested in learning more about this circumstance, use our free Cash Flow Calculator.) Having adequate cash on hand is just as vital as having enough lifeboats for a corporation.
Lesson 3: Listen to what others have to say. The Titanic was alerted by another ship, the SS Californian, about an hour and a half before she sunk, that pack ice had forced the Californian to halt for the night. The Titanic’s wireless operator, it seems, chose to disregard this warning and go on. Big blunder!
It may be difficult to admit that you don’t know everything, but in business, you must be open to learn from others. You should not only think about, but also seek out, the opinion of people in your business. Locate mentors, counselors, or advisers who can assist you in avoiding typical blunders or making difficult judgments. Don’t be the man in the radio room saying, “Ah, they’re overreacting,” minutes before your ship sinks.
The comparison “your company is like a ship” is often used. Tim Berry regularly speaks about business planning in terms of steering the ship and revising a business plan to make course adjustments on his Planning Startups Stories blog, much as a sailor would utilize navigation tools to stay on course. In this scenario, learning from a genuine maritime disaster may assist you in ensuring that your company does not go missing at sea.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What mistakes were made in the building of the Titanic?
A: The Titanic was a British ocean liner. It hit an iceberg on April 15, 1912 and sank two hours later. There were 700 survivors rescued by the RMS Carpathia from 14 lifeboats launched in response to the collision of the great vessel with her nemesis, which happened at 2:40 am local time.
Why did the Titanic fail as a project?
A: It was not a project, it was an adventure.
Did the Titanic sink because of human error?
A: No, the Titanic did not sink because of human error. The ship hit an iceberg and sunk due to a lack of lifeboats in response to passenger demand.
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