We’re all aware today of the billion dollar valuations some tech companies are scoring, and all the coverage that they get with it. This can’t but put massive expectations on up-and-coming entrepreneurs in a society venerating the successful ones and considering their struggles to be part of their resilience test and rite of passage. The stakes are high and the risk of failure even higher. In fact, according to a Harvard Business School research by Shikhar Ghosh, “three out of four venture-backed startups fail, and more than 95% of startups fall short of their initial projections.”
A recent article published by Inc. entitled Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship shed a light on the effects of the traumatic events entrepreneurs go through: “No one said building a company is easy. But it’s time to be honest about how brutal it really is and the price so many founders secretly pay… Entrepreneurs often juggle many roles and face countless setbacks -lost customers, disputes with partners, increased competition, staffing problems- all while struggling to make payroll.” Of course, entrepreneurs can get support. There are valuable coaching tools to deal with stress, anxiety and failure, which in turn will help them preserve their mental health and maintain their drive. I personally believe that entrepreneurs can also avoid the challenging situations by taking into account what really matters to their entrepreneurial projects, and learning how to navigate through.