Every entrepreneur dreams to see their business grow and succeed. But like any other industry, there’s no overnight success in entrepreneurship. In fact, according to US statistical data on small businesses, 50% of small businesses close down within five years. Even well-known and successful entrepreneurs have their own stories of failures — but they never gave up.

So, if you want to find success in your business, you should never fear the possibility of failing especially in times of crisis. Instead, embrace failures and challenges as part of the process. Here are some reminders why you can overcome the challenges during these trying times.

1. Challenges are learning opportunities

If successes shouldn’t get into our heads, then neither should uncertainties and failures. There may be challenges especially in selling your products or services now. But instead of relying to that truth, you can shift you focus in evaluating your business – its performance and digital initiatives. As business owner, we’re pretty sure that you know how to turn challenges into opportunities.

You can also use this time by learning new skills or enrolling on free online courses available. With this, you can improve your skills which can help in growing your business.

2. Consistent efforts pay off

Keep going. This crisis can be a blocker to your plans for this year, but this shouldn’t stop you from managing your business. Stay focused and keep in mind that these challenging times will come to pass.

Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos warned his early investors that his then online bookstore had a 70% chance of failure and bankruptcy. In fact, for its first 14 years, Amazon barely made a fraction of what it earns now.

The takeaway

Sacrifices had to be done in pursuit of business growth.

But like Bezos, thinking for the long-term will help your business pull through, even if the odds are stacked high against you. If you’re on the verge of giving up, take a step back and look at how far you’ve come. When something isn’t working, pay attention and work on it.

3. We gain the most invaluable insights in unconventional paths

For some, taking an unconventional path may seem like failing, like not finishing college, for instance. While a degree is an important asset, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, especially when it comes to managing a business. In a 2005 Stanford University Commencement speech, Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs shared how dropping out of college has made a significant impact on building his company.

“The minute I dropped out, I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting,” Jobs said.

“I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this…I learned about what makes great typography great.”

“If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts,” he emphasized.

While he didn’t take the conventional path of getting a degree, he did take the creative route, which eventually helped him in designing Macintosh. But that’s not the only challenge Steve Jobs faced. Later in his life, Jobs got fired from the very company he co-founded. With select former employees from Apple, he then founded NeXT, a computer platform development company.

We can also thank Jobs’ involvement in the visual effects industry, which led to the making of the first 3D computer-animated film Toy Story (1995). Eventually, he returned as the CEO of Apple, and the rest, as they say, is history.

With the right mindset, crisis isn’t the end of the world, merely a setback for us to overcome. Sure, it’s cliché, but it’s something worth repeating: these challenging times are opportunities to grow and learn something new.

What lessons have you learned from your business failures? Share them in the comments belo