I would have to say this is more of a personal post because I, myself, am an entrepreneur and have witnessed how so many of us struggle to recapture our business spirit. It's not just about having a fantastic idea; it's about getting through barriers that might even discourage even the best entrepreneurs.
It usually starts with funding. For many entrepreneurs it may be because an investor decide to withdraw/either no one else is ready to give them money to finance their business idea. I had thought everything was final and settled before, but in my early days the friend who supported me in launching the venture just stopped dealing with me, that was the day I lost everything under the feet.
Also many entrepreneur go through this phase. Have some huge hopes and start-up capital with the progress of the scheme diminishing after some time. At one day you have a cash flow coming in from every quarter the scheme runs and the next day you are putting out fires to pay the utilities. This is very difficult for most entrepreneurs who will have to face it. The trick is to make sure you have steady funding from the outset as well as having some contingency for any unexpected situation. A good idea is to start small or even using one's own savings.
A big obstacle then is staff hiring. I have experienced this twice in my life when there was no employee at all, at one point during a quick spike in business, and at other times when I had too many of them that I didn’t have the funds to pay for. It’s a tight circle that can have anyone at least keeping the tightness together. We nearly never had enough hands on deck when we had a large inventory of clothing supplies last time we bought them. After almost being blown out of business on some deals (due to myself doing everything), I hired some help on delivery, but later, when the business slowed down, I still had to sleep at night trying to decide how to pay everyone.
Another major challenge is trouble with cash flow. I learned that hard way when that required paying others ahead of myself. Only I thought about future revenues, however when those revenues did not come as fast as I expected I got my goose burnt. It happens every day. Many entrepreneurs make a big mistake by overestimating future revenue streams and underestimating ongoing expense streams. Entrepreneurs need to be realistic about the flow of their money at all times and always have some left in case of rainy day.
The timing of a business can really make or break a business. I have seen amazing ideas fail because they were ahead of time, and I have seen others ruin their chances by never launching their business. Even if you have a great product, your business won’t scale if the market is not ready for it. So you find yourself talking to people about your product instead of selling it to them. However if you launch your business right when the market is shining it doesn’t take very much storytelling for you to scale a business. This means finding the right point in relation with some skills and mostly luck with a lot of analysis done.
As a businessman, there's this saying that, "failure is part of success." I have been down in life like many other entrepreneurs many times before, and the trick is learning from those experiences and applying them on your next business. Entrepreneurs should equip themselves with what is ahead so that they can prepare themselves for what's in store for them. That means having funds locked up, attracting the right team and people, managing cash flow and timing entry correctly.
Nevertheless you should not forget that even if your first venture does not work out well, learning from the mistakes does not cost any money. Keep believing in yourself, do not give up on your dreams, adapt to the situation, treat all obstacles as a learning opportunity. With persistence and the right attitude you can come out of the storms in the business life without getting hit.