Steve Smith is an experienced Finance Director (FD) and EFM Associate with a long track record of leading Finance projects across multiple business phases and challenges, from start-up to funding and growth, to turnaround and recovery.

But he’s also a keen athlete, having recently completed the legendary Marathon des Sables, the toughest footrace in the world. In this Q&A, he shares the parallels between the mindset needed to run 254km in the desert heat and that required by entrepreneurs to run a new business successfully.

Interviewer – Steve, you’ve performed an exceptional feat of physical endurance – but what’s that got to do with how entrepreneurs approach their business?

“They’re very similar, in that much of the success is rooted in a mindset of prior contemplation, preparation, and planning.

You need to think through what the risks are – in a start-up business, these can impact your home, your savings, and your career. Entrepreneurs should seek out professional business planning advice from someone with significant start-up experience.

“But part of this preparation is also about personal readiness for the extreme effort and sacrifice required. You need to develop mental resilience!”

Interviewer – Why is mental resilience so important?

“Because whether you’re running in a desert or running a start-up, there’ll be constant challenges, and you need to be able to face them down and carry on. That can take real mental effort.

To go back to adventure running for a moment, an example of this is a backpack whose straps are cutting into you at every step. You’ve got to have the mental resilience to withstand the torment, but you also need to learn to focus on it as a way of taking your mind off other issues.”

Interviewer – What kind of mindset do entrepreneurs need to cope when things don’t go to plan?

“This is a hugely important mindset to cultivate. You need to develop the ability to ask yourself what could go wrong – or indeed, what could improve – how, and how you’d pivot and adapt your plan to counter the challenges or maximise the opportunities.

As General Eisenhower said, ‘The plan is nothing. Planning is everything.’ Your business planning needs to be regularly reviewed and, where necessary, changed, in response to many possible circumstances, such as interest rate hikes or falls, regulatory upheaval, dips in the sales pipeline, new funding sources, and so on.

Again, professional help with business forecasting and scenario planning can make a real difference here.”

Interviewer – Do you have any tips from the desert on how to adapt and pivot?

“This is often about not trying to do the same thing a different way, but doing a different thing to achieve an acceptable result. It’s the strategic outcomes that are key here, not the methods.

For example, whilst in the desert, I mislaid my headtorch, which I needed to run at night. But I tagged on to a group of runners who all had head torches and could light the way for me.

By shifting my mindset from the means to the ends, I pivoted and adapted to turn a potentially catastrophic situation into an acceptable and workable outcome.”

Interviewer – You spoke earlier about mental resilience. How can entrepreneurs develop this?

“There’s an awful lot you can do to make yourself mentally stronger, simply by exposing yourself to situations you’re not comfortable with.

In running terms, this is often about doing things like training in the cold, dark, and rain. In start-up terms, it can be about leaving your comfort zone and deliberately taking on something you’re not naturally strong at – presenting business plans to investors, for example, or delving into the financial details of the business’s performance.

By doing more of what you’re not comfortable with when something is thrown at you, you can cope with it better. Sports scientists have long advocated this approach to build a winning mindset.”

Interviewer – What do entrepreneurs need apart from mental resilience?

“The notion of self-regulation - another sports science concept - is also key here. This is the ability to set manageable goals.

For me, running in the desert, the goal was the end of each stage, and the water and respite provided there.

For a start-up, the mindset must embrace clear milestones, whether these be in product development, sales, revenue, funding, or any other area.

The input of a business growth advisor is often indispensable in this process.”

Interviewer – Is there one overriding mindset feature that athletes and entrepreneurs must have?

“A sense of adventure, a sense of curiosity, and the ability to see things differently.

Sports scientists tell us that, very often, our brains act as a kind of central governor, stopping us from challenging both our physical and mental limits. This is set differently in different people, but it can be shifted – again, by putting yourself in positions you’re uncomfortable with.

This takes that sense of adventure further, and faster, and fuels the curiosity to understand how to do things differently - whether it’s on the running track, in the gym, or the business.

And quite quickly, putting yourself into increasingly uncomfortable situations becomes something you enjoy!”

For more information on how EFM can coach and mentor you to develop effective mindsets in your start-up business, and drive its growth, get in touch today.