Estimates are that 30% of small businesses fail in their first year. 50% within 2 years and a whopping 75% fail within their first 3 years. This is according to a University study done a few years ago about Australian Small Businesses.

You hear it constantly though and I often wonder, who gets to decide what is classed as a failure? Does it mean bankruptcy, does it mean selling up and moving, does it mean closing a store to open a website or work from home?

There is no definitive statement to say exactly what a business that has failed yet people have this misguided fear of going into business for themselves because it is such high chances of failure.

I call bullsh*t. Here is why.

According to most online dictionaries ‘failure’ means lack of success. Now last time I checked no one can define to you what success means because it is personal for each and every individual.

For some, success means being wealthy, for others having a great family life and time to enjoy with their kids, for some it is learning more and more each day. For me it is a combination of all of these things plus waking up each day and looking forward to doing what I do regardless of the financial gain I receive from it.

If I am to be truly successful, I want to live in a happy state as much as possible and this means truly loving what I do for an income each day.

Therefore, how can we define what a business failure is when we do not fully understand what success means to the individual who started the business. They may have completely ceased trading in year 1 but learnt a myriad of new skills and picked up their dream job because of their experience being self-employed makes them a much better candidate for any job description. Could you determine from this that their business ceasing to trade is actually a monumental success because it led them to a much better outcome and the success they truly desired in the first place.

It all comes down to the story we tell in our heads but with so much negativity, doom & gloom and of course a million reasons why not to go into business for yourself. I think it was time to debunk the myth that most businesses fail in their first 3 years and offer an alternate ending. Forget about the statistics and focus on writing your own story because when you tell the story and define what success means to you, you can never fail.

The only failure you can ever have in life is when you stop trying!

Never stop trying = Never fail.

(Forget what your 8th grade maths teacher told you. You cannot actually fail if you keep trying)

I believe if you asked most business owners who had ceased trading in their first 3 years if they felt doing the business had improved their lives most would say yes. To say they felt it was a complete failure and they learned nothing from it would be them playing the ultimate victim and I believe blaming the world for their problems which few people consciously want to do and if you can’t learn something new from any situation you find yourself in, it means you are not trying and then yes. Even I would call you a failure.

Jason Loft is the CEO of Pedals Espresso. A chain of solar powered bicycle coffee carts in Australia.