Unfinished Business Podcast Episode 5 Part 2: How to Own Business Mistakes and Stop Them Happening Again

In Part 2 of Unfinished Business Episode 5, Anaita Sarkar and Tim Fung respond to two costly business mistakes: private client commentary accidentally left visible during a pitch and a landscaping crew sent to the wrong house. Their advice moves from immediate damage control to prevention, covering candid apologies, careful written communication, practical checks and the Five Whys.

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Every business makes mistakes. Some are small and quickly forgotten. Others arrive with the kind of sinking feeling that makes you want to close the laptop and disappear for a week.

In Episode 5's Reality Check segment, Anaita Sarkar and Tim Fung respond to two founder confessions. One involves accidentally exposing internal commentary about a client during a presentation to said client. The other involves a landscaping crew cutting the hedges at the wrong address.

The situations are very different, but they raise the same questions.

What do you do immediately after a mistake? And what needs to change afterwards?

Reality Check #1: when the client can see the internal chat

The first caller had spent days preparing an important pitch. The presentation was polished. The meeting was underway. Everything appeared to be going well. Then they realised they had shared their entire desktop rather than just the presentation window.

In the corner of the screen sat an internal chat thread containing several unflattering comments about the prospective client. The client had apparently spent twenty minutes watching both the presentation and the running commentary.

Not surprisingly, the business didn't win the deal.

It's the kind of mistake that deeply personal, painful in the moment, and potentially costly.

The front-page test

Tim's advice applies across every element of business, and comes from a generation of workers that grew up in the digital age.

Don't write something down unless you'd be comfortable with other people seeing it.

In what he describes as the "front-page newspaper test" Tim suggests that all written communications – be they Slack, Teams, text messages or email – be treated as if they will eventually be made public. And it’s up to the author to ask themselves, if something became public, would you stand behind it, or would you immediately wish it disappeared?

And if it’s the latter?

“Keep that one to yourself.”

The lesson isn't to avoid honesty or hard conversations. It's to exercise intent and to care about what gets recorded.

Name the awkwardness

Once the mistake has happened, Tim believes authenticity is usually the best path forward, and that direct acknowledgement helps demonstrate that you are willing to own your mistakes.

“Acknowledging when something's bad or awkward makes it less bad or awkward.”

People already know what happened. Naming it removes the need for everyone to pretend otherwise.

Apologise without defending yourself

Anaita takes a similarly direct view.

If you've made a mistake, own it. Apologise, accept that there may be consequences and make peace with the fact that the damage is done. Not in a performative sense. The relationship is changed now, and the outcome is out of your hands. The client may still walk away.

But an honest apology demonstrates accountability.

As Anaita points out, everyone makes mistakes. What people often remember is how somebody responds when those mistakes become visible.

Why self-awareness can improve difficult conversations

Tim shares an example from Airtasker that stuck with him. During a meeting, he asked a junior employee a question. Instead of trying to bluff their way through an answer, the employee responded honestly. They admitted they were nervous, struggling to think clearly and needed 20 minutes to gather their thoughts.

Tim says he loved their response. Rather than giving a poor answer and regretting it later, the employee recognised what was happening in the moment and communicated it directly.

“At Airtasker, we're really big on talking about awkwardness.”

By naming the difficult situation for what it was (nerves, feeling underprepared and put on the spot) the employee helped to create space for a better response.

Reality Check #2: the right job at the wrong address

The second dilemma comes from a landscaping business in Brisbane.

A crew arrived at a property and immediately began cutting hedges. Twenty minutes later, a confused homeowner walked outside and asked what they were doing. Only then did the business realise it had been sent to the wrong address after a street-name mix-up.

The result was damaged hedges, replacement costs, apologies and a very expensive lesson.

Unlike the first dilemma, this wasn't primarily a communication issue. It was a systems issue.

Small checks matter

When asked about processes in small businesses, Tim argues strongly for checks and double-checks. Not because mistakes can be eliminated entirely, but because small errors compound over time.

He points to examples like spelling a company name incorrectly when reaching out to someone.

“if you get that wrong … you lose credibility.”

A typo won't automatically destroy a business relationship, but it does create a signal about your attention to detail.

Fix the customer problem first

Anaita makes an important distinction. While it’s tempting to get stuck in and fix the internal issue that caused a problem, your attention need to go to solving the customer's problem first.

In the landscaping example, that meant replacing the damaged hedges – at the company’s expense – and completing the correct work for the correct customer.

Only then should the company look inwards to discover what happened and work out how to prevent it happening again.

Anaita says that, when the time comes, the company should ask how the mistake happened and focus on reducing the chances of it happening again, as iterative improvement helps grow better outcomes.

“If your business becomes better 1% at a time, it's ultimately going to be a better business.”

The goal isn't finding someone to blame. It's identifying what the business can learn from the experience.

The Five Whys

Tim highlights a technique commonly used in software engineering called the Five Whys.

Without assigning blame, ask why a mistake happened. And when you have an answer, ask why that cause happened, and again, and again, and again. Ask “why” five times. And after that process, Tim says you can often find the root cause of a problem. Not just the circumstances that brought the issue to light, but the reason the mistake was able to occur in the first place.

Often, the original explanation turns out to be only part of the story. A simple address mix-up may ultimately trace back to a breakdown in communication, missing verification steps or unclear responsibilities.

The purpose isn't blame. It's understanding. And from understanding, improvement.

Don't let process become the problem

Tim says that it’s important not to go overboard with rules and processes at a small business as small businesses need room to experiment, move quickly and take risks, and getting the balance right takes time.

If a business has too many controls in place – say to avoid making mistakes – then the business environment becomes fearful and employees become hesitant to act at all. No one wants to take action because no one wants to feel that they might get in trouble for doing something wrong.

Tim notes that the challenge is finding balance between diligence and flexibility. The balance is different for each business at different times, and there isn’t ever one right answer.

Besides, the goal isn't perfect systems. It's better systems.

Key takeaways for small business owners

1. Assume written messages may become visible

If you're not comfortable standing behind a comment, don't put it in writing.

2. Acknowledge mistakes directly

Naming the awkwardness often makes difficult situations easier to navigate by giving the people involved room to make things clearer.

3. Apologise without becoming defensive

A sincere apology won't guarantee a positive outcome, but it demonstrates accountability and a willingness to do better.

4. Repair the immediate problem first

Look after the customer before turning your attention inward.

5. When credibility matters, check your work

Small details can shape how customers and partners perceive your business.

6. Investigate root causes

The Five Whys can help you go beyond the surface to the root cause behind business problem.

7. Balance systems with flexibility

Controls matter, but so does giving people room to act and learn. And the balance depends on the business.

Thanks for reading Part 2

That's it for Part 2 of our Episode 5 recap.

You can read Part 1 here, and you can check out the full episodes below:

Next up in Part 3, Anaita and Tim are joined by Min Chai, co-founder of boutique bakery Tokyo Lamington. Min talks through the start and success of his joint endeavour, and asks a question familiar to many small business owners: with cost of living pressures squeezing the bottom line, how can you react without losing customers?