When entrepreneurs start a business, we envision it succeeding beyond our wildest dreams. But what happens when reality doesn't match our goals and vision for our business? How to heal and move forward afterwards closing our business?

I experienced a similar nightmare when I closed one of my businesses after battling the last pandemic. Now, months after making such a difficult decision, I want to share five ways you can move on from an unhappiness. business failure.

1. Give yourself time to grieve

Your business may have been a labor of love or even your child. It's hard to face the facts and move on. Be honest with yourself and give yourself time I grieve the loss, even if it is frustrating and heartbreaking to the point of tears. You can't really move on to the next chapter while still holding on to what might have been in the old chapter.

Connected: Grief, Death and Entrepreneurship – 6 Helpful Ways to Manage Loss While Growing a Business

2. Reconnect with loved ones and recover from burnout

Leading up to the decision to close your business, you likely exhausted all possible options. You have used all your physical, mental and emotional energy in this process. Now that it's over, give yourself the freedom to relax, recover and renew. It might mean taking a trip out of your city for a few days in a new environment.

Consider breakdown for the movies you meant to watch but didn't have time for or didn't have time to pick up that hobby you abandoned while building your business. This is a great time to surround yourself with family and loved ones who love you beyond business and can support you in your next steps.

Connected: 10 warning signs of employee burnout and how to deal with it

3. Reflect on your past journey and consider possible next steps

After you've had time to grieve and recover emotionally, you're now in a position to consider what's next in your life. Take inventory beforehand of the lessons you've learned from your experience running your business. It may help to document them so you can take them on your next adventure. You can also share such lessons with others aspiring entrepreneurs or colleagues who run businesses. Ask yourself what you can see yourself doing in the next chapter and start researching what that would look like and what the next first steps are to follow.

4. Consider taking a “bridge job”

Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur, right? Well, running a business is not for the faint of heart. Some former entrepreneurs may want the security of a payment and less responsibility that they had as owners accountable to everyone. As you consider your next steps, it might be a good idea to take one mental rest from your previous responsibilities and go back to work, even if you work for someone else on a temporary basis. Doing work that provides a regular paycheck for you and your family can help you stay active, reduce the mental workload you once had, and give you oxygen—and money—as you think about your next move.

Connected: What to do if your company closes

5. Make a decision: stay employed or go out again as an entrepreneur

Now that you've had some time to grieve, recover, reflect and even work again, only you can decide if you want to build a business again. You may be in a better position to consider collaborating with others to build again or consider building yourself. Give yourself an appropriate time frame (ideally between 3-12 months) to decide the next steps and then commit to your next adventure all the way.

Recovering from failure it's never easy. Your dreams are broken. You may feel like a failure in the eyes of family, friends, and the rest of the entrepreneurial community. However, one of the biggest lessons I've learned as an entrepreneur is that success doesn't happen in a straight line. Failure is part of the process. Depending on your mindset, you can see failure as a stepping stone to your later success or as an obstacle that prevents you from trying again. Mental toughness and resilience are built not only through the ups and downs of running your business, but also when you have to make a difficult decision to shut down and move on with your life.

The good news is that you are not alone experiencing failure. You don't have to be an entrepreneur to know what failure feels like. You live long enough and understand that everyone has to answer for the failures and misfortunes they experience. It is not a question of whether you will fail or not. It's more a question of how you will respond when failure knocks on your door, even when you least expect it. I hope these five ways can help you recover from your business failure and build the courage to create a new adventure on your entrepreneurial path.