Entrepreneur Mindset: How to Overcome Obstacles

Mar 21, 2023

Want to learn how to easily outsmart a bank? Keep reading!

Any entrepreneur will at some point have to deal with obstacles that impede progress. Obstacles may present themselves at random and your ability to survive in business is directly correlated with your ability to overcome setbacks. In this short article, you will learn the following:

  • How to easily outsmart a bank
  • The mindset needed to overcome obstacles
  • The best predictor of entrepreneurial success
  • How to overcome obstacles in business

Recently, I took a trip to the bank. I entered the bank through the drive through window to deposit a check. I explained that my customer had incorrectly spelled the business name on the check. The teller told me they were cracking down on this type of error, then proceeded to step away from the service window, presumably, to get approval from a manager. A short time later, they returned and brought to my attention that along with the misspelled business name, the check recipient did not match the legal business name on record.

Years ago, we added a fictitious or "doing business as" name to the account for logistical reasons. But a decision was made to remove it during the crisis of 2020, because of strict guidelines on the use of alternative business names. At the time, removal of the extra name was an important step in order to get approved for things like government funding. The Small Business Administration only wanted a single, legal name on the account. Previously, fictitious names were never an issue. But the rule was changed in 2020.

After explaining the issue, the bank was still unable to deposit the check. Technically, before arriving at the bank, I knew the misspelling on the check could be problematic, which is why I brought it to their attention at the start. But in the past, they had always made the deposit without issue. This was especially true in instances like ours, where a banking relationship was well established.

At this point, most business owners would have two options:

  1. Contact the customer to see if they could correct the error and send a new check.
  2. Visit the Secretary of State website and file formal documents to get the name officially recognized.

Either way, there was going to be a delay in getting the problem resolved. If the business was anticipating being able to deposit the check by a certain deadline, the date would have probably come and gone. Luckily, there was no rush to deposit the check.

But there was a third option, which came from my understanding of banking. Essentially, any bank deposit is a digital transaction between two accounts. The bank acts as intermediaries. Tellers are not really needed for these transactions. So, what I did was download the banking app and deposited the check electronically. There were no issues with the check when I used the mobile deposit. In fact, a portion of the total deposit amount was available immediately. And within 24 hours, the full amount was available. No issues.

The big lesson for aspiring entrepreneurs is once your business is up and running, you will have a number of similar obstacles that impede progress. Realistically, some obstacles will be much more complex. For example, if your primary supplier goes out of business, will you survive? I’ve had that happen a few times. Sometimes, organizations change the way they do business. For years, they did things one way. Then suddenly, everything changed. This is common for companies that have been acquired by a new owner.

For any challenge that may present itself, as long as you can navigate around it such that the outcome is positive, you will last as an entrepreneur. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room. You don’t have to work the hardest. There is no perfect formula for predicting who is most likely to survive as an entrepreneur. But the ability to overcome obstacles using creativity and innovation is one way to increase the likelihood of entrepreneurial success. You have to be masterful at solving problems.

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