How to reject rejection

Being an entrepreneur can often feel like an uphill struggle. You find yourself juggling many different balls, feeling that you can’t drop any one of them at any point, yet knowing that not all of them will go your way all of the time.

Research shows that too often when small businesses hit serious challenges in their funding journey, it can cause the business plan to stall or stop completely. Almost a third of small businesses (27%) that did not receive what they wanted from a finance provider, gave up or cancelled their plans.

Receiving a rejection from a finance provider can feel disheartening, but it doesn’t mean the journey should end there.

Matt Warren, founder of company, Veeqo, explains how he overcame rejection to build up his highly successful tech business. Matt says “you’ve got to accept a lot of nos before you get some yeses”.

Rejection shouldn’t mean you hit a brick wall

The British Business Bank has launched the #RejectRejection campaign to encourage small businesses like yours to reconsider different finance options – even if you have received a ‘no’ in the past from a finance provider. Follow the campaign conversation here.

It’s easy to think that a rejection from one finance provider will mean that you’ve hit a brick wall with your business.

This simply isn’t the case. There are over a dozen different equity and debt finance types available, and some may be more suited to your needs than others. You can explore the different finance options with our simple Journey tool.

Before you make any subsequent funding applications, make sure to review any reasons you were given for a previous rejection. Is there anything you may need to change in the next application?

Never give up

In a recent Business Finance Guide article, we explored four tips that successful entrepreneurs and business owners have in common. Tip one is to never give up. We’re echoing this with the #RejectRejection campaign. Read the article: Being the person that never gives up: an entrepreneur’s guide to the first few years.