When speaking to anyone who has made it big in their field, one can notice the stories they are the proudest of are sad ones that ripped their lives and souls apart. And this is the case because the victory of coming over all those hurdles is the real achievement.
The same is the case with entrepreneurs; they have bragging rights over the hardships they’ve faced in their ventures’ initial, middle, or even end stages.
There have been some very famous businessmen who’ve been through tragic situations and shun through it all because of their perseverance and belief in themselves and their venture. Some of those are:
1. Thomas Edison
Edison was pulled out of school after being called “stupid” and “unteachable.” Edison was fired from jobs after jobs; despite these demotivating setbacks, he never sulked into a crappy life. He made sure he accomplished what he knew he was good at inventing. He obtained a total of 1,093 patents.
Some of his groundbreaking inventions were the light bulb, alkaline battery, stock printer, and phonograph. His saying that genius is “1% inspiration and 99% perspiration” has been famous and genuinely describes the importance of hard work in achieving one’s goals.
2. J.K. Rowling
When the famous author of the Harry Potter series wrote her first book in 1995, it was rejected by 12 different publishers. The publisher, who finally did publish the book Bloomsbury, also asked her to “get a day job.” Other than the rejection factor from publishing agencies, Rowling had a tragic life; she was going through a divorce, her mother had passed away, and she lived on government subsidies.
But she knew she had something unique in her writing, so she spent all her free time harnessing that talent and kept writing. Now she is the wealthiest female entertainer after Oprah Winfrey!
3. Simon Cowell
When judging their immense talent, his cockiness on the screen shows American Idol, and the X factor has never been a miss. But Simon Cowell has been through a hell lot to get to where he is now. Simon bounced around jobs when he was 15; he had also dropped out of school. His job as the mailroom of EMI music publishing made him climb any ladder in his life. He eventually formed his own company E&S Music.
The company, however, folded within a year and left Cowell in a pool of debt. He then moved on with his dream clear in his head to a job in Fanfare records and made the company huge with his hard work. That’s when he started to get famous and launched the X-factor and American Idol franchises. Now he’s a rich bloke with a lot of bragging rights.
For entrepreneurs visiting the lives of those who’ve struggled and made their way to the top is a great way to overcome their issues and stay focused. Perseverance is truly every entrepreneur’s asset.
