It’s not uncommon to feel unmotivated and uninspired as an entrepreneur sometimes. Entrepreneurship takes a lot of hard work and the road to success can be filled with rough patches.
In the first few years, growing businesses may face numerous challenges to survive the harsh economy. You might struggle to generate viable and sustainable ideas, manage a team, or navigate competitive markets. All of this and more can intimidate you to quit the start-up game but staying motivated can help you to stick to your goal and not give up when the going gets tough.
So how can you maintain focus on the business while also staying motivated to become a better person and business leader? Here are a few specific ways you can stay motivated when times get tough:
Stay Committed
Starting anything requires commitment and hard work and running a home business requires a certain amount of drive and enthusiasm. If you want to accomplish your business goals, you need to commit to your motivation and finish all the tasks at hand, no matter what the situation is.
Some ways to stay committed to your business is by having a mission statement detailing the purpose of your business, setting goals for yourself and also trying not to overwork yourself! Taking a breather every now and then will give you time to regroup and remember why you chose the path you’re on.
Find your desire
It’s impossible to stay motivated as an entrepreneur if you don’t have a purpose behind what you do. Why did you start this business? Is it to give your kids a better life than you had? To be able to be your own boss and set your own schedule? So you can retire early?
Once you discover your desire, you won’t have any trouble moving forward. Your desires will remind you of why you started and why you should keep going – you want to make your dreams come true!
Challenge yourself to grow
If you’re struggling to stay motivated as a small business owner, always look for challenges. Although it may seem counter-productive to be looking for challenges, challenges are hurdles that can inspire you and improve your decision-making skills. Having a growth mindset will help you to perceive obstacles as opportunities, and act in ways that will enable you to excel even under extreme circumstances.
Focus on clients that motivate you
You can’t make everyone happy in business. There will be times when you receive negative feedback from unsatisfied customers, or perhaps encounter bad experiences with employees or suppliers. But focusing on customers who provide genuine feedback and show gratitude for your service can pick you up when you’re in a slump, and remind you why you started the business. After all, there is nothing more motivating than happy and satisfied clients.
Focus on small wins
We all want to win big, and may think that only huge profits count as a win. But successful entrepreneurs know that it is the long haul and the daily grind and tasks that lead to long-term success. Those are what needs to be celebrated. Find joy in the small daily win, and in realizing the incremental steps that lead to long-term success. If you don’t give up, your small wins will add up into a big win one day.
Surround yourself with the right people
Entrepreneurship can be isolating at times, but you don’t have to struggle through the rough periods alone. One of the best things you can do for yourself is to surround yourself with the right people. Engage your friends and colleagues to help motivate you both toward individual and shared goals. When you have a support group around you, your failures and rough patches don’t seem nearly so hopeless. Take time to genuinely invest and build positive relationships with the people around you and it will help you greatly in work and in life.
Welcome feedbacks
Feedback can either make or break your motivation, but it is an important part to help you grow and become a great leader. Positive feedback can boost your confidence and motivation, while negative feedback may bring your spirit down. But, why not see negative feedback as constructive criticism? In business, feedback from your customers will highlight areas that need improvement and help you to better understand your strengths and weaknesses.
Stay Positive
Starting a business can be overwhelming in many ways, but staying positive in the face of its ups and downs can provide you with perspective and allow you to appreciate the challenges with a sense of gratitude rather than dread. Your thoughts have immense power over your reality. If you can keep your head up and focus on staying positive, you’ll be much more likely to find success.
Staying motivated during business start-up is challenging. Try to remind yourself every day of the daily wins but work on long-term goals but celebrate small victories too—that’s how you can stay motivated in small business.
