What to Do When Your Startup Gets Tough

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Dr Wilson Leung, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.

Looking back over a decade ago when I co-founded my startup organization, it was quite the up-and-down journey. There were certainly days when things were good, in fact, great. The vision of what you dreamed was actually becoming a reality. The meaningful cause of impacting many lives. The chance to wake up in the morning to spend your day doing what you love to do. Then, of course, there were those other days. Losing your best staff member to another career. Funding and grants that your startup desperately needed and waited months for were rejected. Projects that you planned for turned out to be a failure.

It’s much easier to fly a plane when the skies are blue or steer a ship in calm waters. But it’s a totally different story when you need to navigate through dark storm clouds or sail through surging ocean waves. Similarly, it can be so difficult to lead through the days, even weeks, months, or dare we say even years when our startup is struggling. What are we founders to do when our startup gets so hard and challenging? Here are four approaches that have helped me get through tough startup moments in the past, so I offer them to you for consideration.

1. Embrace Your Sense of Calling

You founded your startup because it was important to you. It may have been important because the mission of the startup aligned with your personal values. Perhaps it was important because you wanted to solve an industry problem or meet a societal need. You may not realize it or even have labeled it as such, but your startup is actually a calling. A calling to do something important with your life. A calling to start something new. A calling to make a difference. A calling to not settle for the status quo but to make forward progress.

When our startup goes through difficult times, we often lose sight of our sense of calling. We forget why founding the startup was so important to us in the first place because we are so preoccupied with the problems or crises that are directly in front of us. So, take some time to reflect on your personal purpose amidst hardships and disappointments. This will help give you a greater sense of stability and grounding during those challenging times.

2. Foster a Growth Mindset

We may not feel we have much control when something negative happens with our startups. Perhaps there are funding challenges, staffing issues, or research setbacks. When disappointments happen that are seemingly out of our control, it’s essential to remember that we actually still do have the power of choice. We can let the obstacle hold us back and force us to give up. Or we can choose not to give in to the problem and choose a different path.

One such approach is a Growth Mindset, coined by Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychologist. As Dweck details in this theory, rather than dodging challenges, we have the choice to lean into them. Rather than quitting when obstacles arise, we can commit to leveraging them towards our personal development. Every difficulty also presents a unique opportunity if we choose to see it. No matter what happens, we can ask ourselves what we learned and how we can grow from it. We may not feel like we have much control when challenges surface with our startups, but we can always decide how we will respond.

3. Commit to Persistence in Advance

For those of you who have maintained an exercise routine or workout regimen before, you’ll know that motivation sometimes comes and goes. There will be days when you are excited to put on your running shoes for a jog or can’t wait to use the weight room at the gym. Yet, for those who have worked out regularly before, you’ll also know that there are some days when motivation is low, very low. On those sluggish days, it’s essential to remember the commitment you made to your exercise goals. The commitment you made even when you don’t feel like doing it. The commitment you made to persist in advance.

Similarly, founding a startup requires your persistence as there will be moments when motivation is low. There will be days and months when inspiration is diminished or there is a lack of enthusiasm for various reasons. In those moments, remember the prior commitment you made to persist. Recall the dedication you made to the goals of the startup and to yourself.

4. Keeping a Leadership Journal

Embracing your sense of calling, fostering a growth mindset, committing to persistence… all of this can seem overwhelming. So, a great habit to facilitate all of these aspects is keeping a leadership journal. Consistently using a leadership journal is a useful tool to help you engage in all of these approaches of calling, growth, and persistence. A leadership journal will also be an aid to document other significant moments on your startup journey. Writing down the big (and even small!) wins you experience along the way will provide you with a more balanced perspective when tough times eventually come. A journal can also be used to learn key lessons from mistakes and gain insights from our failures so that we grow and lead more effectively for the future.

Some prefer the more traditional journal format of using pen and paper. Yet with so many technology tools available to us, journals can be in various formats from mobile apps to laptop documents, to audio-video recordings. Choose whatever format is most accessible, convenient, and comfortable for you.

Summary

Leading a startup is not easy. Yet, you did not establish your startup because it was easy. You started it because you felt called to do something important and meaningful. So, have a growth mindset when faced with challenges. Be persistent when obstacles lower your motivation and remember to document your journey so you will have a balanced perspective to reflect on when difficult times come.