Don’t let challenges hold you back

We have probably all at some point on our entrepreneurial journeys heard potential customers, investors, and suppliers tell us ‘we’ve always done it this way, so we don’t really want to change’. It can be a challenge, particularly if we are trying to introduce something new and innovative into the marketplace. I was reading a great article this week about one woman entrepreneur in the tough global pharmaceutical industry, a sector where only 4% of businesses are led by women, who had to overcome major challenges to launch her groundbreaking products. Cindy Whitehead, founder and ceo of Sprout Pharmaceuticals in the US, the company which launched the breakthrough FDA approved drug known as the ‘female viagra’, had to break down perceptions and numerous barriers along the way to achieving success. Not only did she get her revolutionary product successfully to market, but her company was eventually sold for over US$ 1 billion. She didn’t let challenges or established ways of doing things hold her back. She says: “If the only reason for a rule is that it's the way things have always been, then by all means, break it.”