What do you do if your entrepreneurial journey is filled with obstacles?

It's all about your attitude, approach, and mental strength. If you view the obstacles as defeating, demeaning, or otherwise negatively reflecting on you as a person rather than just the opportunity to learn or adjust direction, you will fail. Things happen. Sometimes it rains. You don't crawl into a hole because the sun doesn't come out when you want it to. You change your plans and move on. That's what it's all about.

If you are an entrepreneur, you will encounter challenges, failures, and obstacles. That's the nature of the job. Entrepreneurship is not for comfort seekers or the weak-hearted. It's not for people who enjoy 'lazy river rides.' It is for people who want the 'roller coaster' of life. Therefore, being aware of this helps. Also, when you learn to embrace a failure as a setback and pick up the hidden gems behind those setbacks, you will grow immensely and quickly. As an entrepreneur who ran two businesses and closed one due to financial losses, I can tell you that setbacks teach more than success does. Therefore, embrace them.

Obstacles are an inescapable part of life's journey, touching every individual without exception. However, it is through failure that the path to success is paved, offering invaluable lessons in resilience and problem-solving. As an entrepreneur, navigating a road filled with obstacles should be seen as an opportunity to embrace failure as a vital learning curve. It is in these moments of adversity that success is nurtured, showcasing the power of consistency and the rewards it brings. Embrace the challenges, for they are the stepping stones to greatness, shaping your journey and defining your triumphs.

I love failure! It makes for the bestest stories! Every "failure" is a success story waiting to be told on a national stage one day. Choose your ending accordingly ✊🏾

Every setback is a setup for a comeback. You reverse engineer how you 'grit through' the other obstacles in one's life and realize there is always another path to what it is you are trying to achieve or where you are trying to go. Setbacks and obstacles are part of our learning. We use our grit to figure out another way.

I always bring in advisors or experts to help me navigate obstacles. Broadly speaking, there’s nothing you’re going through that someone else hasn’t confronted in the past. So get their insight and expertise.

Honestly, go out and seek a coach, I work with a couple of difference coaches at any one time. From sales and marketing through to general life / business coaching, getting coached allows you to take a different perspective. You'll meet people you click with, who are further along the path then you are, ask them for coaching or mentoring (coaching + advice!) and get held to account to further your goals (or set them if you've not yet gotten that far!)

Whether you are seeking advice, help, or building your network, I recommend finding a mentor. Here’s the thing about being an early stage entrepreneur - you are going to face obstacles and challenges, but you probably aren’t the first one to face those obstacles. Mentors are great in any stage of your journey, in my experience they are willing to pay it forward and help those who are at the stage they once were. Trade events, chamber of commerce meetings, business mixers are all examples of great places to seek out potential mentors.

It's always good to have mentors on your side! Look for mentors / coaches with experience and proven track record on what you want to achieve in the future. They should have been there, where you want to be! But as an entrepreneur I assume you have already build some skills which are useful for some mentees as well. Strong advice from my experience: "If you love human beings, please act as a mentor as well and learn a lot leadership skills from your mentorship! It's always about give and take!

Surround yourself with a variety of people that can be helpful in discussing the issues. It is crucial to have a network with the ability to look at different facets with you. Technology, emotion, personal interactions, finance, legal, communication etc.

Assume you'll be flying into the wind most of the time. In many ways, this is a good thing, as doing so helps you take flight, but it also requires a lot more energy than coasting with tailwinds. I don't know a single business owner or founder that I respect and who's been objectively successful and has yet to face multiple major setbacks in their journey. If you're not having them, either it's too early, or perhaps you're playing too small. Price these into job! This is why having a job is far easier than being a CEO or Founder. So, as you face setbacks, you can also change the goalposts. Don't be afraid to take new information or findings to rebaseline what you expect of yourself for your business.

Adjusting Goals won’t suffice to go ahead. Don’t adjust your goals, review and revise your process of achieving those goals. Seek consistent feedback from your team and review priorities

Obstacles are like compasses that come your way to adjust your goals and put you back on the right track. Hence, treat them like that. When one thing isn't working, you can adjust the goals, take different actions, tweak the vision, and move the goalposts in a more realistic and achievable way. This will help you create a better implementation strategy, keeping the current challenges in mind and ensuring you aren't stagnant.

Going to 30 day vacation. Relax, unwine and plan my goals higher. Increase. My daily habits. And come up with new ideas. For idea and decision-making is the key to wealth.

Obstacles are just stepping stones, over the muddy waters. For every one you surpass, you will see a bountiful growth unlike none other. Embrace it as a pausing point, not a stopping point, to regroup, to refresh and conquering those "obstacles."

I have found that not only myself but those that I work with are 90 day creatures. Our life happens in 90 days. The seasons happen in 90 days. Habits happen in 90 days. I love a one year and a three-year and a five-year plan. Yet I have found that to be successful, I have to live in a 90 day world. That gives me the ability to make significant pivots every 90 days. That level of innovation I have found to be an incredible catalyst to my business.

Change and growth is the lifeblood of every organisation. If you don't embrace those ideals then there is a strong chance you will stagnate and be overtaken by your competitors. You should be constantly looking to continuously improve. Don't be afraid to seek feedback from your colleagues at the coalface, as they often have the answers in how you can innovate and grow. One note of caution, do not make change for change sake, it can sometimes cause more damage than good.

The key to this in my opinion is to be a non-anxious presence and to be flexible in my thinking. Challenges can often tempt us to anxious ideation and when that happens as it does - if I’m rigid in my response I’m often unable to rise to the challenge. If however I am able to treat the idea with curiosity I can often see something I’d missed that helps forge a path for a new solution.

Innovation is the heartbeat of entrepreneurship. It's what sets us apart from the competition and captures the attention of our target audience. By constantly seeking new ways to enhance our products, services, and processes, we not only increase the value we offer to our customers but also strengthen our market position.

A lack of innovation kills so many businesses of all sizes. Remember BlockBuster? If you can't see when the masses are moving to a new trend that may affect your business and be willing to make changes... you too may get left behind.

The entrepreneurial journey is always filled with obstacles, struggles and mistakes made along the way, through a trial and error method. There is no other way to test things, see what your potential clients want and then make the right decisions and provide exactly what the client needs. Thus you need to have a thick skin or develop it along the way. Get up quickly when you fall, embrace failure, learn from your mistakes and don't hide them under the carpet and develop a positive attitude, that combined with resilience and patience will lead you to success.

It’s not a matter of if but when. There are many obstacles you will encounter on your entrepreneurial journey. You will learn from each one. Resiliency is one of the most important traits that an entrepreneur can master. The bottom line is stay the course. Seek out others that have gone through it to gain their perspective. Talk to academics and advocacy groups because they likely know others that have experienced similar obstacles or know of resources available to counter a specific obstacle. Improvise, adapt, and overcome are ways to negotiate an obstacle. Stay the course!

If you're encountering obstacles, you can use them to your advantage. First, they may be a good signal that you're stretching and innovating. If you don't encounter obstacles, it can mean that you're not pushing far enough. And then of course obstacles are a huge opportunity to learn, improve, adjust and adapt--to develop resilience. Stay aware of your market and your circumstances, make sense of how they're uniquely important and then respond. Developing these skills will help you achieve initial success, and ensure you can continue evolving with your entrepreneurial idea as you move forward.

I always remember the saying that an elephant is eaten one bite at a time. When times are tough, just remember to focus on the next bite and eventually you'll get closer to the goal.

If there weren't obstacles everyone would do it. As said before it is not a matter of if but when. A strong business plan, SWOT, and a team that helps not only see obstacles coming but can develop solutions to overcome them. Even as the owner you better not go it alone.

Could you look for patterns? Often, in the moment of a roadblock, our attention is on the details of that particular situation, but see if you can spot trends. Does this happen when you're typically exhausted or not caring for yourself? Or is it always related to conflicts with other parties? Perhaps is related to money and finances? Or is it about being let down by your team? See if you can spot a more structural issue in your business or an area in your personal leadership that could use some attention and analysis.

One thing I have learned is that failures are as important as wins to learn lessons. As Wayne Gretzky said, “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it’s been.” With that future-focused view, appreciate how your past failures and wins can empower you to achieve.

Remember and hold onto why you started in the first place. What was it that made you knowingly sign up for this uphill battle full of certain failures and uncertain successes? For me it's my family and my future family. The reward is much bigger than these temporary setbacks. Recommit to your vision often. Fight for that future.

One way I have found helpful is you need to reflect and grow. Obstacles will be on our way everywhere. It is better to learn, take corrective measures and grow.

Be coachable! Find someone to reflect with, discuss and celebrate what you achieved. Be curious about what could have gone better, and honest about your skills and strengths in that area. I remember starting out thinking I had to do everything myself but so aware I’d never pay someone for the amateur job I was doing at every thing other than my own specialist subject. On reflection I wasted years, struggling to survive. Yes have a growth mindset but don’t beat yourself up or expect to be an instant expert at roles the professionals spent years perfecting. That being said, you need to know what good looks like and your expectations. Get clear about what you need to learn, what you can out source and who can help.

It's essential to stay resilient, adaptable, maintaining focus, and prioritizing self-care. Break down challenges into manageable tasks, seek advice from mentors or peers, pivot when necessary, and always keep your long-term goals in mind. Embrace setbacks as learning opportunities, and maintain a positive mindset to persevere through difficult times. Remember, obstacles are not roadblocks but opportunities for growth and innovation.

The only way entrepreneurs are happy with themselves and the mission they are set to accomplish is when all the points listed here are ticked off, they embrace failure, seek advice, innovate constantly, adjust goals, maintain resilience, reflect and grow. Well that’s the formula for success, but what about the indomitable spirit and the ability to pivot? I think that makes the difference.

Entrepreneurial journey is usually filled with many obstacles during startups. We had our share of obstacles. By the time we established our company House of Nature, the COVID-19 appeared. Unlike other similar centers, who had shut down for long duration, we continued to operate. This was quite challenging as a new business and stringent protocol requirements for COVID Safety. We readjusted our goal to somehow just survive. Me and my wife both had got COVID-19 infected and remained confined for 2 weeks. However, we retained our employees and continued to serve our customers in whatever way we could practically serve. Today, our employees and customers both trust us a lot. I learnt about the power of positivity and persistence.

Embracing the mindset of adapting and strategizing swiftly is crucial in entrepreneurship. It's a journey where the destination is clear, but the path to get there is often uncertain. What some may perceive as obstacles are truly just stepping stones, each one propelling us forward toward our goals. With this perspective, we can navigate the unknowns with confidence, knowing that each challenge brings us closer to success.