In Tough Times, Look For Inspiration In Today’s Rising Stars

Startups and investment opportunities are starting to become thin on the ground. Figures cited by CNBC highlights a general malaise in the startup climate, as owners used to the exceptional funding levels of 2020 and 2021 are coming to terms with the impending chance of a recession. While the fundamentals of the current market have stayed strong, there is nevertheless a psychological barrier to overcome in order to defeat this sense of discontent and continue growing. As with all forms of business, networking and following trends is crucial; for entrepreneurs, that means following some of the rising stars in the world of business and seeing how they’ve propelled themselves through troubling times.

Becoming vulnerable

The current business climate is changing rapidly, and businesses must adapt in order to overcome adversity and stay relevant. Inflexibility is one of the main reasons that businesses fail, according to Investopedia, yet, adapting to change is a more difficult process than it seems on the face of it. Indeed, being positive towards change is more of a psychological change than a specific business decision – though having a flexible business model certainly helps. Rising entrepreneurial star in the home service business, Tommy Mello, highlighted this need in a recent advice piece for Inc magazine; rather than resting on your laurels, he recommends you should “Seek out criticism from multiple sources” and “Take responsibility. If you did screw up, just learn and course correct”. In other words, make yourself vulnerable. Look for feedback, and build it into your business.

Make yourself vulnerable, look for feedback, and build it into your business.

Keep overheads down

Remote working has helped to reduce overheads, but there’s always the risk of mission creep. Keeping those overheads down not only has a beneficial impact on your books, but it ingrains a psychological attitude towards frugality and careful management. DeVry University, in a profile of rising star Alek Pirkhalo, also highlights her advice when it comes to spending more time on what matters – the business: “Minimizing your expenses to the bare minimum can be a key factor when starting a small business… Minimize your expenses as much as you can so you can focus more on your business.”

Minimizing your expenses to the bare minimum can be a key factor when starting a small business.

Focusing on new trends

Change is a key part of managing a business, and there are lots of ways to embrace change in a way that will meld with today’s burgeoning consumer market. Focusing on sustainability and ethical capitalism is part of this. In a profile by Forbes, food entrepreneur JJ Tartarini provided his view; “I love the mission of our company—to create great tasting snacks and give 10% back to charities… If your goal is just to make money, you won’t find much purpose in what you’re doing because you won’t be passionate about it.”

Find a greater purpose, and adapt to the wider market. Your business needs to be a slick operation, with low overheads, but also something that will focus on where quality is found and work hard towards that. This will help you to weather the storm – just as these young entrepreneurs did.

If your goal is just to make money, you won’t find much purpose in what you’re doing because you won’t be passionate about it.