According to Shahnaz Hemmati, a veteran of two multibillion-dollar startups, there are two skills every new business owner should have. This is because doing so can make a big difference between success and failure.
One is perseverance, the ability to overcome the inevitable obstacles and setbacks that come with running a business, Hemmati said. He is the co-founder of ZenBusiness, an artificial intelligence software startup that helps first-time entrepreneurs navigate the regulatory process.
Part of running a successful business is “first understanding that it’s hard and it’s not easy,” she says. “It takes patience. It takes effort. It takes continuous learning.”
The second key skill every founder needs is the adaptability to change strategy as needed, says Hemmati.
“If something doesn’t work, they are able or willing to change quickly and try different things,” Hemmati says. “I think that’s the big difference between those who are successful and those who aren’t.”
Founded in 2017, ZenBusiness was most recently valued at $1.7 billion in November 2021, the company announced at the time. Hemmati and co-founder Ross Buhrdorf were previously executives at HomeAway, a vacation rental marketplace that Expedia acquired in 2015 for $3.9 billion.
“Don’t ever think of yourself as a failure.”
Multiple entrepreneurs cite perseverance as a key trait for success. Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s billionaire co-founder and CEO, says his ability to work through “pain and suffering” while building a business was key to his and Nvidia’s success.
“Greatness is not intelligence. Greatness comes from character. And character is not formed from smart people, but from people who have suffered,” Huang told students at his alma mater, Stanford University, in May 2024.
Perseverance and its related trait, resilience, are two of the biggest predictors of success, according to psychologists. People who work on developing these skills are less likely to quit at the first sign of trouble, more likely to have the confidence to bounce back from failures and setbacks, and a better chance for future success.
When it comes to developing these skills, Hemmati’s advice is to never get discouraged if you fail. Instead, see it as an opportunity to learn something new. “What went wrong?” What can we do differently next time to be successful in the future?
“Never think of it as a failure,” she says. “My advice is always, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship, think about everything you’ve learned, because once you’re an entrepreneur, you’re an entrepreneur for life. So think about everything you’ve learned and apply it[next time].”
power of pivot
In some ways, Hemmati’s advice may seem contradictory. Difficult sections require you to stay on course and change strategy if necessary. The real trick, she says, is learning when to rely on patience and when to embrace adaptability.
Some startup founders are simply too stubborn or afraid to deviate from their original strategy, Hemmati says, even if early profits suggest things aren’t going well.
“There’s a big difference between someone who has a clear idea of what they want to do[with something]and someone who is really open and thinks through[their options],” she says. That difference in mindset can ultimately be the difference between success and failure, she added.
Some other experts agree. The ability to take in constructive feedback and research and make necessary changes is essential to the success of any business, entrepreneur and author James Sherman told CNBC Make It in November 2023.
“Pivoting is part of the entrepreneurial journey,” Sherman said. “Entrepreneurs must be nimble, flexible, grounded, accepting and ultimately successful.”
As an example, Hemmati cited many companies that had to change their entire strategies and business models to stay afloat during the shutdown period due to the coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020. While every company “has booms and busts (and) we all understand that,” she says, successful leaders “recognize when something isn’t really working and (then) start thinking, ‘What do I need to change?'”
Hemmati adds that in such cases, time is usually of the essence and you need to figure out what will work before it’s probably too late. She advises against “thinking a solution has to be perfect before you try it.”
“If you’re thinking about it, other people are probably thinking about it too,” Hemmati says. “So the sooner you can come up with a solution, the better. And the sooner you know what’s working and what’s not.”
Do you want to earn more and make more money? Save 30% on bundles of top courses that will boost your earnings.
Plus, sign up for the CNBC Make It newsletter for tips and tricks to succeed at work, money, and life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to connect with experts and colleagues.
