Entrepreneurship is often glorified with all the success and the money and fame that comes with it.

People often look at successful entrepreneurs and aspire to be in their position. But what they fail to see is their hardships and the ups and downs they went through to achieve that level of success.

Most business owners are going through these ups and downs because of various reasons. Some are yet to recover from the detrimental effects of the lockdown, some are facing team competency challenges, and some are unable to build effective business strategies and systems.

But by far, the biggest reason a majority of entrepreneurs are struggling is due to complacency brought by the little success they achieved in the past.

I firmly believe that, in fact, success breeds failure.

The problem is, as soon as business owners hit one milestone, they believe they have it all figured out. They become casual in their approach. And it ultimately leads to some serious consequences in their business.

Here is what you need to know. Your growth as an entrepreneur will never be linear in progression. You will always experience ups and downs at every stage of your journey.

And today, I will specifically give you a framework that will help you overcome these ups and downs in your entrepreneurship journey.

So let’s dive in.

1. Audit your Habits:

Whatever position you are in right now in your life and business is the direct result of your habits as an individual, the decisions you made in the past, the way you dealt with problems and challenges, and the mindset with which you approached your business.

Consciously becoming aware of your habits contributing towards your growth as an entrepreneur and an individual is crucial.

But it is even more crucial to monitor the habits you possess that are not contributing to your personal or professional growth.

I am a firm believer that you are the product of our habits. And it’s essential to build habits that will help you in 3 areas:

Habits that will keep you high on productivity and results
Habits that will keep your business and your team’s productivity and results
Habits that will keep you in a positive state of mind, irrespective of the external situations

If you take control and consciously build these habits, it will go a long way in helping you manage your ups and downs in your journey as an entrepreneur.

2. Have Absolute clarity of your Business Goals:

A big chunk of entrepreneurs goes through a bumpy ride in their business because they never take the effort to clearly define the goals they are chasing.

Most entrepreneurs are never actually playing the game of growth. They are actually running their business for survival where they are constantly firefighting to manage their day-to-day operations.

As an entrepreneur, the problem with functioning in a survival mode is

You’ll never create wealth
Any external influence can knock you down

In fact, this is one of the biggest reasons that entrepreneurs who are functioning in a survival mode were hit the worst because of the pandemic while those who proactively defined a clear goal of all they wanted to achieve in the coming 1 year, 3 years, and where do they want to go in the next 10 years were able to manage and thrive in the same situation.

Having clarity of your goals as an entrepreneur lets you understand the necessary actions you should consistently take to be on track.

This will keep you on your toes, which is how I feel every entrepreneur should be irrespective of their level of success. Keep pushing for higher goals, and always be on your toes2

3.Constantly Build Capabilities:

As a business coach who has interacted with more than 5000 entrepreneurs on a one-on-one level, I have seen so many entrepreneurs get stuck at a certain level in their business.

They do not get a breakthrough in their business results for years. And they do not realize when trying to scale up their business is, every level of growth will require a whole new level of capabilities. Not only in themselves but also in their people, systems, and strategies.

Let me explain this to you. Say if you are making 1 crore per annum in revenue, and your goal is to hit 5 crores a year, which is 5 times your original revenue. Hitting that 5 crore mark will require a totally new level of capability in you as an entrepreneur. You will need new capabilities to build better strategies. It will require a higher capability for building better systems. It will also require a higher for building and driving people’s performance.

So there is one thing which I would recommend every entrepreneur to never stop doing if they want to manage the ups and downs in their business. It’s the ability to keep building their capabilities. The more capable you become, the better results you achieve.

4. Be part of the Solution:

If I were to ask entrepreneurs right now about the problems they are facing to grow and scale their business, I would get hundreds and thousands of reasons.

And here is the problem. If I asked what solutions they are seeking to resolve it, only a handful of entrepreneurs would be able to answer.

This is the fundamental difference between entrepreneurs who truly achieve massive success despite having ups and downs in their business and those who don’t.

Because all massively successful entrepreneurs possess one common trait. They always look for solutions, no matter the type of problem, the gravity, or the magnitude of the problem.

They always focus on what they can do, whom to consult, or what can they learn to solve the problems.

The bottom line is this. If you want to become unshakeable as an entrepreneur even when you are down, you must have the trait to be part of the solution.

5. Use power of Association:

Psychology says that you are an average of the 5 closest people you have in your life.

Your income, your quality of life, the magnitude of your problems, and your lifestyle. All of this is the average of the 5 people who are closest to you.

The problem is, we relate, associate, and connect with people in a similar state as us. If I were to give it a term, I would call this India’s favorite game- dukhi dukhi khelna.

I, on the contrary, suggest that one of the best ways to grow as an entrepreneur and an individual is by associating yourself with people who are operating at a higher level than you, who are driven, and who are solution seekers.

Because when you associate yourself with people who have a burning desire to constantly move forward, it automatically drives you to function at a higher energy level. It drives you towards seeking solutions and will agitate you to grow faster. I call this power of association5.