Perseverance is certainly an important aspect of business success. The saying “If you don’t succeed at first, try, try again” means that few people can achieve 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 business perseverance to help inspire you to achieve the seemingly impossible.
Thomas edison
When he was young, Thomas Edison’s parents kicked him out of school after his teachers declared that he was “stupid” and “impossible to teach.” Edison spent his early years working and being fired from various jobs, culminating in his dismissal from a telegraph company at the age of 21. Despite these many setbacks, Edison was never discouraged 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 stock printer, the phonograph, and the alkaline battery, were groundbreaking innovations, the vast majority of them could justly 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 started looking for inexpensive light bulb filaments. At the time, the ore was mined in the Midwest of the 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 devoted his time and money to the company. Edison also obtained 47 patents for innovations that helped the plant run smoothly. And even despite those inventions, Edison’s major project failed due to poor-quality ore on the east coast.
Yet despite that flaw, one of those 47 inventions – a crushing machine – revolutionized the cement industry and, in fact, returned almost all of the money he lost to Edison. Later, Henry Ford would credit Edison’s Ogdensburg project as the primary 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 shows that dedication can pay off even in a losing business.
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. He then became an apprentice to a candy maker and then started 3 unsuccessful candy companies.
However, Hershey did not give up. After these failed attempts, he founded the Lancaster Caramel Company. Despite its initial setbacks, Hershey’s caramel recipe was a huge success. Looking beyond candy, Hershey believed that chocolate products had a much bigger future and 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 his goals. He also created hundreds of jobs for Pennsylvanians and was generous with his wealth, building houses, churches, and schools.
Steve Jobs
Perseverance is not just limited to the initial phases of a person’s career. In fact, failure can often occur after a long period of accomplishment.
Apple founder Steve Jobs achieved phenomenal success at a young age. When he was 20 years old, he founded Apple from his parents’ garage, and within ten years the company had grown into a $ 2 billion behemoth. However, when Jobs turned 30, the Apple board of directors fired Jobs from the company he created and he found himself unemployed. Rather than see this as a curse, Jobs treated it as a freedom to undertake new endeavors. In fact, Jobs later stated that being fired was one of the best things to happen to him, as it gave him the opportunity to think more creatively and start a new company.
After being fired from Apple, Jobs founded NeXT, a software company, and Pixar, the incredible movie company that has produced animated movies like Finding Nemo. Later, 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 wealthy man, Cowell faced difficulties earlier in his life. When he was fifteen, he dropped out of school and worked various odd jobs. Cowell eventually got a job in the mailroom at EMI Music Publishing, where he was able to make his way into the A&R department. After EMI, Cowell formed his own publishing company, E&S Music.
Unfortunately, Cowell’s new business collapsed in its first year of operation. As a result, Cowell was burdened with a great deal of debt and had to go back to living with his parents. However, he was persistent and eventually landed a job at a small company called Fanfare Records. Cowell worked at Fanfare for eight years and was able to help grow the company into a successful record label. From there, he spent several years hiring musicians and cultivating talent before launching the “American Idol” and “X-Factor” franchises that would make Simon Cowell a household name.