As an online creative business owner, I know I’m just one of hundreds of thousands of people trying to figure out how to navigate the next few months, not only in their business, but every part of their life. There are so many unknowns. So many questions. So much confusion on how to navigate things, particularly in our businesses. It’s not just affecting one country, it’s affecting businesses globally, from the mom and pop shop on the corner, to entire corporations and supply chains.

John Maxwell once said, “Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward.” While there’s some controversy about whether this is a good mantra to live by, reality is, as a new small business or nonprofit owner, we are going to fail in some areas! And let me tell you, this enneagram 1 perfectionist does not like failing. But here are three ways in which I failed last year and what I learned from it.