#3 - Five tips from social entrepreneurs to deal with rejection, plus recommended reads and more.

Advice and inspiration for people building a purpose-driven business

Oct 7, 2022

Hey fellow good business lovers,

This is the third edition of Just Good Company - your weekly deep dive of advice and inspiration to help you build a purpose-driven business yourself.

First up, a few stats; 61 people read edition two, 48 of you are now subscribed to get this delivered to your inbox, still with a massive 63% open rate 🙌. The Guardian article on the increase to the Real Living Wage was the most clicked link.

This week:

A look at how to handle rejection, with five practical suggestions from social entrepreneurs who have been through it themselves, myself included!
Recommended reads and news - a guide to measuring impact, guide to the best ethical coffee in London and learn to no-code.
Final thought - something common you may not have realised can’t be recycled!

Please keep the feedback coming my way. Next week is the first interview with a female social entrepreneur I’m a huge fan of… stay tuned!

🤓 Five tips from social entrepreneurs to deal with rejection

This week I’ve been thinking about the resilience required by entrepreneurs, especially in the face of rejection (yes, sadly my company did get rejected from something last week!)

Rejection is a fundamental part of building a business.

It happens to everyone. The internet is full of examples of now astonishingly successful people who were rejected over and over again. And it can end up being a source of incredible growth.

But that doesn’t mean it's always easy to accept the sting of hearing a ‘no’. So for this issue, I asked a few fellow founders for how they deal with rejection and compiled them with my own into these top five tips.

1. Remember your why

“Keep the end goal in mind - think back to why you started and look at how far you’ve already come” - Jan, The Planet Life

I’m sure all of you are familiar with Simon Sinek’s ‘Start with Why’. But being able to clearly articulate your purpose isn’t just about building a brand people want to buy from. It's also the north star which keeps you going in good times and bad. Two things keep me in touch with mine:

Write it down. Before I started In Good Company I wrote down exactly why I was doing it - both the big audacious mission for the business, but also my personal mission as well. I have that piece of paper on my desk so it's always there to check back in with.
Revisit the proof. I have an envelope with little pieces of feedback I’ve been given from people who love my company (an email folder is a digital alternative!) And whenever I am feeling disconnected, I go out and spend time with customers which re-fuels the fire to keep going.

2. Ultimately a ‘no’ means you are giving it a go

Jan also reminded me of this one. Fear of failure stops so many of us in our tracks, when actually the best thing we can possibly do is take action, no matter how small. And whilst this time you might have got a ‘no’, if you don’t even try, you’re never going to get a yes. Another entrepreneur once told me she targets a 90% rejection rate for selling, her view being if she’s ‘too successful’ she’s not talking to enough people!

3. Little wins

“My tactic is to put my fingers in lots of little "pies" so you're racking up lots of little wins next to little disappointments” - Nikki, GoodMine

My co-founder Sarah practices this one really well too. We have a company Slack channel called #winsoftheweek for sharing anything and everything good which happens.

You might also want to try a monthly review of your achievements. It’s easy to lose sight of them when you’re in the day to day grind.

4. What can you learn?

A teacher once said to me, “We are meant to feel our pain, it's where the growth happens, but we are not meant to stay stuck in it.”

It’s more than ok to not feel ok when something you want doesn’t happen. But it's really important not to dwell. Instead, ask “What can I learn?”

Jan’s view was that it “helps you to understand and hone down your business”. Reflecting back on when I’ve heard ‘no’, I also believe it's when I’ve had some real breakthrough moments.

(P.S. Sometimes it is also really not about you! Or it's actually a “not yet”. So make sure you consider that too)

5. Take a break

It's so easy to feel like in the face of rejection you simply need to do more, more, more. That’s my natural inclination as a way to regain control.

But actually, sometimes a little rest and reset is exactly what you need. Then you can genuinely approach Step 4 with an open mind.

For me, this means shutting down my laptop and getting out into nature. There’s something incredibly powerful about reconnecting with the wider world to ground yourself and regain some perspective. Then you can truly come back, defences down, and focus on the good path ahead.

📚 Recommended reads and other good things:

A guide to impact from Bethnal Green Ventures - I’ve only skimmed but this is my own must-read for the week ahead. An incredibly thorough guide to measuring, managing and communicating your impact. Designed for start-ups but I reckon will be of use to any purpose-driven organisation.
Another sustainability event - The Sustainability Show 2022! Billed as two days of talks, inspiration and shopping from the best sustainable brands out there, at the Islington Business Design Centre on 15th and 16th October. 50% off day tickets using code TSSG50 (c.£6.50 if used). I’m in for the 16th!
London Good Coffee Guide - can’t really believe I haven’t plugged this yet! A little beta of our forthcoming In Good Company app, your essential guide to the best ethical places to go in London. You’ll find a handpicked selection of over 100 of the best ethical coffee shops in London. Plus a Google Maps list to have on your phone.
Learn to No-Code with 100 Days of No Code Bootcamp - one of the best things about my entrepreneurial journey has been the learning and development. Taking part in an earlier round of this up-skilled me no-end and I apply so much of what I learnt to my business every day. Plus being part of a community is great! They have a free challenge, but are offering a hefty bootcamp discount if you apply before midnight tonight.

💡 Final thought for the week:

I think I’m pretty decent at sticking to the Three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) but this 🤯 Blew. My. Mind.

Sustainable(ish) @sustainableish

"Exciting"(!) recycling quiz... Can you put the pizza box below in the kerbside recycling? Give me a 👍 if you think 'yes' and a 👎 if you think 'no'... I'll do the 'big reveal' later!

In case you didn’t know, like me, the greasy bit is a big NO for the recycling bin - though you can rip off the dry bits and put them in. I’m trying to avoid berating myself for all the pizza boxes I’ve ‘recycled’ in error and instead remember that, when it comes to being more environmentally conscious, none of us can know it all.

Start-up idea for anyone who wants it - an app that lets you input your Local Authority and take a photos of an item to find out if it can be recycled or not. If this already exists, send it my way!

Thanks again for subscribing. If you fancy being interviewed for a future edition, get in touch.

💚 If you liked this issue of Just Good Company and know someone who would find it interesting too, please forward it on. It means a lot 🤗

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