Entrepreneurship is challenging and more complicated than many realize. It is highly glamorized, and you can become an “entrepreneur” by simply filling out your social accounts. The choice to be an entrepreneur and achieve whatever level of success you envision will, without a doubt, come with its set of challenges. Fortunately, regardless of status, zip codes, connections, you have the opportunity to succeed!

Even with the amount of Youtube videos, eBooks, and blog posts where you can gather an unlimited amount of information on any topic, there are still several areas that regardless of the industry, you must focus on getting to where you want to be.

Making sure you focus on the 4 P’s mentioned will continue to make sure you are pushing forward in a way that will help you continue to grow and achieve everything you want out of entrepreneurship.

1. Persistence

Persistence may seem obvious, and if you have been reading or looking into entrepreneurship, you have come across this step. Persistence can also be categorized as “hard work.” I can tell you that persistence is not enough alone, but it is the essential first piece of the entire puzzle. 

You will face challenges on your road to success. Things will happen, and you will have to remain relentless in order to get to your ultimate goal.

Keep pushing through the obstacles with everything you’ve got. Continue or start working on your mental toughness. Find sources of content or mentors that can help guide you through the challenges that will inevitably come along on your journey.

You can work hard and stay on course, which may feel like you are doing what’s necessary to succeed but without the following piece of the puzzle, you could find yourself on a hamster wheel and never actually getting closer to your goal. That is why this next piece complements persistence so well.

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.” – Benjamin Franklin

2. Progress

You have to remain persistent, but you have to see progress in everything that you do. This is where I find many entrepreneurs go wrong. You are grinding and doing the things that you feel are necessary to get to where you want to go. Then you look up weeks, months, or even years later to realize you are still practically in the same position where you started.

You have to get clear on your goals. That is the ultimate way to verify you are making progress with all your hard work. Start by writing your ultimate goal for success and work backwards. Break down what you’d like to accomplish in years, quarters, months, weeks, and develop daily routines.

During your persistence step, make sure you are continuing to check off the things on your weekly goals to accomplish your monthly goals to eventually achieving your quarterly and yearly goals.

Also, be sure to continue to adjust your list on a regular basis. If you are new to the world of entrepreneurship, the task, or industry, then it is understandable that you may put down unrealistic timeframes for some of your goals.

That is part of the beauty of persistence and progress. You continue to evolve and grow, which will make you the entrepreneur you want to be.

3. Pivot

Pivoting goes hand in hand with progress. You have to know when you need to make changes to your strategy. Pivoting will be different for every business, but there will be times where you realize the content isn’t working or the sales script is not as effective as you hoped, or maybe you are not checking things off your goal list.

Be aware that you do not have all the answers, and you will have to continue to make adjustments as you go. Do not get so caught up on what you think you know and not pay attention to the facts and what your progress is telling you.

Pivoting is crucial to the entire process. If you are not getting the results you want and don’t pivot, then you will most likely never obtain what you want to achieve out of all your efforts.

Get out your own way and make the necessary changes that need to be made in order for you to grow.

“A pivot is a change in strategy without a change in vision.” – Eric Ries

4. Profit

The life of any business. You have to focus on bringing in more profits. Early on, you potentially could cycle through Persistence, Progress, and Pivoting multiple times before you reach the profit phase, which is fine.

As an entrepreneur, one of the main objectives is to be able to support the business and yourself financially. You have to focus on generating and increasing profit. Obstacles will come, and as you grow, you need to make sure your profits continue to grow with you.

Sometimes we continue to overcomplicate the process with all the information we consume and with the many tasks on our to-do lists. My mission was to simplify the process. Regardless of the many things that are on my plate, if I continue to cycle through the 4 P’s, I know I’m continuing to grow as an entrepreneur.