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The experts agree there is no shame in changing direction entirely when they recognise Plan A is not working. In fact, real failure is often the result of blind adherence to an original concept when it is evident the company has hit a brick wall.

“The key thing about failure is not continuing with something that plainly is not working,” Kelly said. “Insanity is when you do the same thing over and over again that is causing you problems, instead of adapting and changing. Unless you are willing to admit mistakes, you can expect the same result — failure.”

The Fitzpatrick report warned that Ireland should get used to more business failure in the future.

It stated: “Our data suggests that about 33%-41% of small firms fail within their first five years. Therefore we can predict that a small proportion of small firms that will exist in upcoming years will have experience of operating outside ‘boom’ conditions.

“Arguably, the very pace of recent economic expansion and output growth has been so pronounced as to have ensured an across-the-board level of success,” the report continued. “Many of today’s small businesses may not have survived in even slightly more restrained market conditions.”

However, rather than discouraging would-be entrepreneurs from taking a risk, it may be that society will be forced to change its attitude to failure as it becomes more commonplace.

“Business failure should be viewed in the same way as the situation for an employee, where, if things don’t work out as expected, then they look to change jobs,” Curley said. “Nowadays, people are regularly changing careers, and starting a business must be one of those career choices.”

Pair bounce back

In March 2001, the corporate roof collapsed on Charlie Ardagh, and his brother, Rory, then aged 24 and 26. Formus Communications Ireland, the local arm of an America-based broadband giant that they headed up, was placed into receivership with debts of €21m.

Instead of licking their wounds, the two raised money from private equity and business partners to buy the Formus network in Dublin. A year later Leap Broadband was born.

“We never took failure personally,” said Charlie Ardagh. “After all, we had done everything right. We simply fell victim to a global phenomenon of venture capitalists going cold on technology companies.”

In April 2005, the brothers sold Leap to Columbia Ventures Corporation, an American private-equity investment company. The Ardaghs have remained on to run the new company, Magnet Entertainment, which offers digital telephony, multichannel digital TV and high-speed internet.

Ardagh says the Formus experience taught him that no matter how good a business you build, there will always be factors beyond your control. Of those factors within their control, he would have loved to have raised more money to cushion the company against the negative sentiment.

He insists the brothers have no regrets about deciding to work for a bigger company and says they have lost none of their pioneering spirit. Pair bounce back