“People said, ‘You will never make any money in the music industry,” recalls Cowell. “Or, ‘You have no talent.’ Also, when you’re putting out a record, failing to make the top 100 is a kind of rejection. It’s painful.”
Throughout his career, Cowell would become quite familiar with rejection. After he was initially expelled from numerous boarding schools, Cowell could have easily given up. Headmasters were not only telling Cowell that there was no place for him in their schools, but that there was no place for him in a civilized society. That is a hard message to swallow as a young boy. But, Cowell wanted to prove them wrong.
Despite the success he had achieved at EMI in the early years of his career, Cowell’s first attempt at launching and running his own company was an utter failure. E&S Music folded almost as soon as it had opened. In Cowell’s eyes, this was a massive rejection by the music industry. Again, he could have given up, but Cowell wanted to prove them wrong.
He didn’t dwell long on his failure. In little time, Cowell had again launched his own independent music label. Fanfare Records would prove to be more successful than E&S, but challenges would still be ahead for the eager Cowell. When he was 28 years old, Cowell’s professional efforts took a nosedive when he wound up $1 million in debt and living with his parents. He wondered if this was yet another sign of rejection from the music industry. Was there room for his vision? Would he ever be able to carry that vision out?
“I effectively lost everything,” Cowell says of that difficult time in his life. “I had to move in with my parents. In hindsight, it was the best thing that happened in my life because I learned the value of money: not to borrow money and not to live beyond my means. And I learned that getting there is more fun than being there. But one thing that I have always been able to do is to own up to my mistakes and not blame others.”
Cowell accepted his losses, faced the rejection and began the slow climb back up. There would be hard times again – his reality show Cupid was cancelled in 2003 – but Cowell had finally understood that failure was a part of the process. While they were hard experiences to go through at the time, Cowell now understands that it was those very failures that made him the success he is today. “In the music business, over the last 25 years, I’ve faced a lot of rejection,” he says. “It’s a lesson learned. You have to stand out from the crowd.”
Cowell has learned that little failures along the way are what make for a great success in the end. “I think America is a hard nut to crack,” he says. “But once you get a toehold it’s a great place for an entrepreneur because people are so enthusiastic.”
Lesson #3: Take Rejection
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