Lessons learnt on my pathway to success

Entrepreneurship is not everyone’s cup of tea; neither is working under someone in a run of the mill job. I fall in the latter category where I knew I could not be just another brick in the wall. I was yearning to put my creative juices to good use. When I launched my own company, it was with a dream and not much of an experience in my kitty; I knew I would have numerous challenges and some crises thrown my way. But I also knew that one day I would be able to look back at these challenges as learning & lessons on my pathway to success.

When you fail, you don’t really lose.

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says a successful person is the one who falls 7 times but gets up 8 times. statA young entrepreneur has to rid oneself of the fear of failure and avoid self pity or wallow in it for too long. Failure can only be failure, if you decide to give up. It is in fact an opportunity to dust it all off, get up, identify the problem, learn from it and then move on! Treating your failures as lessons learnt is the right attitude for inevitable success in an entrepreneur’s life.

Be positive unconditionally

It is important to keep a positive attitude in life, no matter what the situation is. When you encounter any problem, small or big, the important thing is to not panic and keep a cool head. It is only with a cool head and a positive attitude that an entrepreneur can hope to understand the whole problem and come up with a suitable solution. Decisions taken in moments of panic can often lead to bigger problems instead of solving them. The first thing that I suggest here is to take note of the whole situations with a cool head and then design a solution to the problem.

Keep abreast of the changes

The biggest challenge or mistake is to not adjust to the changes that are happening around you and this mistake can really cost you. An entrepreneur especially needs to be updated about the latest changes in their field of business and keep adapting to these changes, so that they stay relevant. Change is the only constant – maybe a cliché, but truer things have rarely been said. Keeping your business in a constant dynamic state is one of the mantras that have been learnt on the way to success in my entrepreneurship journey.

Be Open To New Possibilities

It is important that once you have made the changes, you keep an open mind to these changes and to further opportunities. Behind every change there are fresh opportunities and new possibilities that may be exploited, only if one has the ability to keep an open mind. The new changes can in fact be those challenges that may motivate an entrepreneur to sharpen their skill set or even develop a whole new set of skills.

The Big Picture

Sometimes in the everyday rumble of things, one might lose sight of the big picture and their whole focus might shift to the day to day work. It is very important for an entrepreneur to have a broader perspective and have a big picture in mind while planning short term goals. At every stage, it is important that you take a step back and look whether you are headed in the right direction and haven’t lost sight of the Big Picture.

It’s OK to seek guidance or help

Any work or business is a sum of equations and not an isolated number, by itself. An entrepreneur might want to be a self made person, but it isn’t really possible to do everything oneself. On the initial road to success, it is only natural that you may need some assistance at different stages. Be gracious and accept this help and guidance at the right moment from experts, experienced, and well wishers.

Accept the challenges and meet them head on, even if you are unable to emerge as a winner in the first go, you are sure to learn from the experience and find an opportunity to attack the problem from a different perspective.