By Oregon Coast TODAY
The Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County is inviting business owners, entrepreneurs, and people interested in starting a business to its second annual Fail Fest gathering Thursday, Oct. 24, in Newport.
The celebration of local entrepreneurs features business owners sharing their stories and the lessons learned from experiencing the failures necessary to innovate and create successful businesses.
Fail Fest is designed to celebrate failure as part of the learning process and change the narrative from failure being fatal to failure being fuel for future successes, the alliance said in a news release announcing the event. The alliance said it wants to highlight the courage and perseverance of business owners and encourage future entrepreneurs to always keep trying and learning.
“My pain point was making mistakes that cost me money when I didn’t have the money to spend,” said Michelle Merhib, a featured speaker at Fail Fest who founded and ran one of the first franchised massage centers. “Maybe I didn’t laugh at the time when I had some significant failures in starting up my business or when I sold my concept to a company that franchised the business model. It hurt, I was embarrassed and didn’t want others to know about my failures. I can laugh at it now because I know that it was a learning experience. An opportunity for me to learn, grow and help others to make the same mistakes. I came out alive on the other side of owning a business.”
Merhib is currently an advisor for the Oregon Coast Small Business Development Center, working to help businesses navigate challenges and build toward success.
It is the second Fail Fest sponsored by the alliance.
“The heart and soul of our business community is our base of small entrepreneurs, with more businesses starting up every month,” said executive director Paul Schuytema. “Not everything an entrepreneur does works right out of the gates, but failure can be fertilizer for future success. Fail Fest celebrates those missteps in a fun and supportive atmosphere and gives us all a chance to learn from and cheer on our local entrepreneurs.”
Snacks and beverages will be provided.
The event begins at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24 at Primaltones Community Venue, 2925 S.E. Ferry Slip Road, Newport. For more information, go to www.businesslincolncounty.com
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