Are granny gear chainrings supposed to have directed teeth (i.e., be non-flippable)?
I think @Chris H is most likely correct, the ring is probably not symmetrical.

Other possibilities are that you did not install it quite correctly, or that there are raised burrs caused bu wear that are hanging on to the chain.

If you really want to find out if you can reverse the ring, install it the 'correct' way around, get shifting working, then reverse it again. That way you know that shifting setup is not causing the problem.