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The importance of perseverance in entrepreneurship

Perseverance is undoubtedly an important aspect of business success. The saying “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” means that few people are capable of achieving great things without first overcoming the obstacles that stand in their way.

Here are four examples, two from the past and two from the present, of successful perseverance in business to help inspire you to accomplish the seemingly impossible.

Thomas Edison

As a young man, Thomas Edison’s parents kicked him out of school after his teachers declared him “stupid” and “unteachable.” Edison spent his early years working and getting fired from various jobs, culminating in his firing from a telegraph company at the age of 21. Despite these numerous setbacks, Edison never lost heart from his true calling in life: to invent. Throughout his career, Edison obtained more than a thousand patents. And while several of these inventions, such as the light bulb, the printer, the phonograph, and the alkaline battery, were groundbreaking innovations, the vast majority of them could be described as failures. And now Edison is famous for saying that genius is “1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

One of Edison’s best examples of perseverance occurred after he was already a successful man. After inventing the light bulb, he began looking for cheap filaments for light bulbs. At the time, ore was mined in the Midwestern United States, and shipping costs were very high. To combat this, Edison established his own mineral extraction plant in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. For almost ten years, he dedicated his time and money to the company. Edison also got 47 patents for innovations that helped make the plant run better. And even despite those inventions, Edison’s main project failed due to the poor quality of the ore on the East Coast.

Yet despite that failure, one of those 47 inventions—a grinding machine—revolutionized the cement industry and, in fact, paid Edison back almost all the money he lost. Later, Henry Ford would credit Edison’s Ogdensburg project as the main inspiration for his Ford Model T assembly line. And indeed, many believe that Edison paved the way for today’s industrial laboratories. Edison’s foray into mineral extraction demonstrates that dedication can pay off even in a losing company.

Milton Hershey

Milton Hershey had a long way to the top of the chocolate industry. Hershey dropped out of fourth grade to take an apprenticeship with a printer, only to be fired. She then became an apprentice to a candy maker and later started 3 candy companies to no avail.

However, Hershey was not giving up. After these failed attempts, he founded the Lancaster Caramel Company. Despite initial setbacks for him, Hershey’s butterscotch recipe was a huge success. Looking beyond caramel, Hershey believed that chocolate products had a much better future and he sold the Lancaster Caramel Company to start the Hershey Company, which brought milk chocolate to the masses.

In doing so, Hershey overcame failure and achieved its goals. He also created hundreds of jobs for Pennsylvanians and was generous with his wealth, building houses, churches, and schools.

steve works

Perseverance is not just limited to the early stages of a person’s career. In fact, failure can often occur after a long period of achievement.

Apple founder Steve Jobs achieved phenomenal success at a young age. When he was 20 years old, he founded Apple in his parents’ garage, and within ten years, the company had grown into a $2 billion behemoth. However, when Jobs turned 30, Apple’s board of directors fired him from the company he created and he found himself unemployed. Instead of seeing this as a curse, Jobs treated it as a freedom to take on new initiatives. In fact, Jobs later stated that being fired was one of the best things that ever happened to him, as it gave him the opportunity to think more creatively and start a new company.

After being fired from Apple, he founded Jobs NeXT, a software company, and Pixar, the amazing movie company that has produced animated movies like Finding Nemo. Subsequently, Apple bought NeXT. After founding these companies, Jobs not only returned to Apple, but helped launch its current resurgence in popularity with the creation and success of the iPod and iPhone. Jobs attributes the success of his career and his strong relationship with his family to the fact that he was fired from Apple.

Simon Cowell

Although Simon Cowell is now a pop icon and a wealthy man, Cowell faced struggles earlier in his life. When he was fifteen, he dropped out of school and worked various odd jobs. Cowell eventually received a job in the mail room at EMI Music Publishing, where he was able to work his way up in the A&R department. After EMI, Cowell formed his own publishing company, E & S Music.

Unfortunately, Cowell’s new company went bankrupt in its first year of operation. As a result, Cowell was burdened with a large amount of debt and had to move back in with his parents. However, he was persistent and eventually got a job at a small company called Fanfare Records. Cowell worked at Fanfare for eight years and was able to help build the company into a successful record label. From there, he spent several years hiring musicians and nurturing talent before launching the “American Idol” and “X-Factor” franchises that would make Simon Cowell a household name.