• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI

2

Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living

3

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs

1

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI

2

Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living

3

Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
CommentaryEntrepreneurs

The Keys to Success in Entrepreneurship

By
Mitali Rakhit
Mitali Rakhit
and
Bethany Cianciolo
Bethany Cianciolo
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Mitali Rakhit
Mitali Rakhit
and
Bethany Cianciolo
Bethany Cianciolo
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 11, 2016, 4:22 PM ET
Courtesy of Globelist
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

The Entrepreneur Insider network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “How do you stay inspired to run a business?” is written by Mitali Rakhit, founder and CEO of Globelist.

Running a business is difficult. Starting a business from scratch is even harder. The entrepreneurial journey is a rollercoaster, and in the beginning you’ll probably face more downs than ups. In these moments, it can be tough to power through, but there are a few things you can do to make the struggle a bit easier:

1. Focus on the bigger picture
Always remember to take a step back and think about why you started on this road in the first place. What is your ultimate goal? Whether it is about building something that lasts, gaining fame and success, or giving back to society, keeping your long-term goals in mind will help you to reframe your daily challenges against a larger backdrop of achievement. The entrepreneurial path is about the journey—not the destination. Building resilience and stepping outside of your comfort zone are pillars of the temple of personal growth that you are about to erect.

2. Eat the elephant one bite at a time
Not hitting your targets as fast as you want to is frustrating, especially after hearing about so many unicorns and 20-year-old tech billionaires. It’s important to keep in mind that every overnight success takes 10 years. There is a lot of hard work and failure behind every triumph, and the key to reaching that point in your own story is absolute perseverance through anything negative that comes your way. You will only realize how much progress you’ve made by looking back every once in a while at where you started.

See also: Here’s the Wrong Way to Tackle Your To-Do List

3. Look to other entrepreneurs for support
The best source of support and encouragement for me has come from other founders. They understand your pain because they’re going through the same challenges at their own companies. Any advice they give will feel genuine because you know they’re speaking from firsthand experience—not just telling you what you want to hear, as is often the case with close friends and family.

4. Understand macroeconomic trends
Entrepreneurship is not just about the tech industry. There are lots of SMEs created every year in a wide variety of sectors. Most of them are not high-growth businesses, and actually take decades to grow into what their founders envision them to be. This is also an acceptable model of entrepreneurship. You shouldn’t be pressured into fitting into one mold of what an entrepreneur is just because the media is portraying that version to be sexy in the moment. Studying global trends will help to put your own choices into perspective.

 

5. Make gratitude lists
Instead of focusing on what you don’t have or what is not going well, create a list of the things that you are thankful for. We all have things that others don’t, and keeping inventory of our strengths will help us focus on how we can leverage them to create something bigger. At the end of the day, entrepreneurship is a mind game. A positive mindset is one of the most powerful weapons an entrepreneur can have in the face of adversity. Gratitude creates happiness.

With these tools, your inspiration and desire to build your empire will never fade in tough times. Cheers to your impending success!

Mitali Rakhit is the founder and CEO of Globelist, providing distribution and marketing in fashion and beauty. She is also the founder of The Brown Girl Boss, a resource for current and aspiring South Asian Female Entrepreneurs. She is currently based in New York but will be opening offices in Dubai and Singapore to build out her businesses in the GCC and Southeast Asia.

 

About the Authors
By Mitali Rakhit
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Bethany Cianciolo
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Commentary

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Commentary

k
CommentaryBox office
How Hollywood’s youngest filmmakers are exposing Gen Z’s real problem with AI
By Reid LitmanJuly 5, 2026
18 hours ago
k
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
Media leadership unity in defying Trump’s assault on free speech: standing tall against historic comparisons
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Jeff Bewkes, Kay Koplovitz, Tom Glocer and Marvin KalbJuly 4, 2026
2 days ago
ds
CommentarySoftware
I argued with the father of open source for 2 years. Now the AI fight is the same — only bigger
By David SiegelJuly 3, 2026
3 days ago
ashok
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
The greatest startup in history: What we can learn from America’s founders at today’s AI frontier
By Ashok N. SrivastavaJuly 3, 2026
3 days ago
2
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
America’s secret weapon isn’t just innovation — It’s the freedom to fail
By Keith KrachJuly 3, 2026
3 days ago
rn
CommentaryCryptocurrency
Former Iran director at NSC: Crypto legislation is a ticket to sanctions evasion
By Richard NephewJuly 2, 2026
4 days ago

Most Popular

Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI
AI
Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary says if he were 25 today, he'd chase these two booming opportunities in the world of AI
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 5, 2026
16 hours ago
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
Success
Even as Elon Musk calls philanthropy ‘very hard,’ everyday Americans gave a record $617 billion—despite feeling the squeeze over the cost of living
By Preston ForeJuly 4, 2026
2 days ago
Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
Law
Egg companies made $1.22 billion in profit off a $6 carton — now they’re buying their way out of a price-fixing case with 53 million donated eggs
By Wyatte Grantham-Philips and The Associated PressJuly 2, 2026
3 days ago
The stock market is about to suffer a 'snapback' and will lose much of this year's gains as 'speculation is hitting extreme levels,' BofA warns
Investing
The stock market is about to suffer a 'snapback' and will lose much of this year's gains as 'speculation is hitting extreme levels,' BofA warns
By Jason MaJuly 5, 2026
10 hours ago
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
AI
Meet the Zillennials: The luckiest micro-generation in the workforce, born between 1993 and 1998
By Nick LichtenbergJuly 3, 2026
3 days ago
Mark Zuckerberg takes business calls on a jet ski wearing his $800 Meta glasses—and insists 'the other person could not tell'
Big Tech
Mark Zuckerberg takes business calls on a jet ski wearing his $800 Meta glasses—and insists 'the other person could not tell'
By Sydney LakeJuly 5, 2026
18 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.