Grit: A Disruptive Founder's Most Important Attribute

When the pitch deck is polished, the vision is bold, and the market potential is massive, what often separates a disruptive founder from the rest? 

It’s not just brains or funding. It’s grit.

1. Why Grit is Critical for Small Business Owners

In the early stages of building a business, you can have a well thought through sales go-to-market strategy (GTM), but nothing goes entirely as planned. Deals fall through. Talent leaves. Capital dries up. Great days are followed by challenging ones. 

By definition, grit is the relentless drive to push forward despite setbacks and can often be the only thing standing between survival and collapse. Grit means showing up every day with urgency and ownership, even when the reward feels a million miles away. It’s becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. Charisma and strategy will only take you so far, but if you are gritty, you will refuse to let short-term losses and challenges shake long-term vision.

2. Common Challenges Founders Must Battle Through

Disruptive founders seeking to change the status quo rarely walk an easy path. The most common challenges they face include:

Unpredictable Cash Flow – You may close three deals one month and zero the next two months. Managing burn and preserving the runway becomes a full-time job.

Loneliness at the Top – As the decision-maker, you’re often isolated. Doubts grow in silence which is why mentorship for founders and timeladvice from successful executives is so very important and should never be discounted.

Hiring Misfires – The wrong early hires can set your growth back months especially your C-suite and sales leadership. That is why founders are hiring experienced part-time Chief Revenue Officers and other fractional resources who understand the grit it takes to succeed and are comfortable with the player/coach expectation.

Constant Rejection – Whether it’s from investors, prospects, or talent, receiving a “no” is a regular part of the job.  According to a recent post from Accumen.sg, 60 percent of customers say “no” four times before saying “yes”. One thing that most successful founders will tell you is those founders who had the most “no’s” and resiliently kept pushing forward eventually had plenty of “yeses”.

Imposter Syndrome – Even seasoned founders face moments of internal sabotage and self doubt where they question their own skills, talent, and achievement. It is natural and similar to when an athlete goes into a slump or a dry spell.

Each of these tests a founder’s resolve. The ones who push through and learn, build muscle memory for the next, inevitable challenge.

3. What to Do When You're Behind on Sales and Goals

Every founder has a quarter (or two or three and sometimes years) where the wheels feel like they’re falling off. Sales did not close. The sales pipeline coverage is way lower than it should be. Promising deals have lost momentum. Forecasts are grim. Pressure from investors is high. The present year revenue targets when revisited makes you think of the opening crawl from a Star Wars movie, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...” 

Here’s how grit transforms panic into progress:

Reset with Data: Strip emotion out of the equation. Reassess your sales processes, sales pipeline, close rates, lost deals, and deal velocity. Look at if deals seem to get stuck or lost in a particular stage. Address any hygiene issues. Is your USP still hitting the mark? Determine the gaps and address them.

Re-engage the Front Lines: Don’t delegate your way out of a slump. Get in the trenches. Call or join calls with prospects. Listen to calls. Reignite dormant leads. Ask customers what’s changed. Like with athletics, you benefit as much if not more learning from your losses than your wins.

Over-Communicate with Your Team: Grit isn’t a solo performance. Share the reality and be honest about it. Clarify the mission and make sure the team is aligned. Show up with confidence and positive energy. Inspire your team to battle for the vision, each other, and the future.

Invest resources and time wisely: Stop doing the same things over and over that are not working. If closing the doors you are opening is a challenge and budgets are tight, hire a fractional head of revenue to help you to build positive momentum quickly and future revenue predictability. Assign your best resources to support your most strategic opportunities. 

Revisit Why You Started: When vision and grit realign, creativity returns. Your best ideas won’t come when things are perfect. They'll come when you’ve got your back against the wall and refuse to give up.

Final Thought:

Founders who succeed don’t always have the perfect product, the biggest team, or the most money. They do not always have all the answers, a cool office space, or an incredible aura. However, the most successful ones all have one thing - they all have grit. 

In the words of legendary conductor Colin Davis, “The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” Grit’s not sexy. It’s not tweetable. But it’s what often separates “almost” from “unstoppable.”

For additional sales tips, sales insights, and revenue growth best practices, visit Justellus’ Sales Growth Blog.

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