Starting and growing a business has never been easy, but entrepreneurs today face a particularly brutal landscape. Whether it is rising tariffs, supply chain disruptions, or fierce competition, launching innovative, impactful products in the current environment can feel like an impossibility.
Of course, entrepreneurs are some of the most creative people in the world, so they are more than capable of navigating these obstacles. Before diving into the ‘how,’ let’s take a closer look at the challenges today’s entrepreneurs are facing.
One of the biggest, according to data compiled from submissions to Alibaba.com’s CoCreate Pitch, the world’s largest product-focused pitch competition, is a lack of funding. Of the more than 20,000 competition entrants, nearly two-thirds (64%) cited lack of funding as their biggest obstacle.
Mentorship is another major obstacle, with 21% of applicants saying they don’t have access to proper experts and mentors. This is a problem because without the right mentorship, founders are forced to learn tough lessons through costly trial and error.
And then there is a lack of supply chain support, with 18% of CoCreate Pitch applicants identifying this as a primary stumbling block. The reality is that unreliable suppliers can cripple a startup’s ability to deliver products on time, resulting in lost revenue and irreparable brand damage.
