Managing your expectations is the formula for sustainable entrepreneurship
Authors
Categories
“Everything in entrepreneurship is deeply personal. When something happens, you feel it a hundred times over. Burnout isn’t the result of working too hard, but of mismanaging our emotions.” So said Yancey Strickler, founder of Kickstarter and Metalabel, in a TalkX.
In the very early stages of a venture, this emotional intensity is often compounded by disappointment at not achieving instant, dazzling success — the kind promoted by a narrative that is as outdated as it is unrealistic: 90% of start-ups fail, most within their first two years. This is precisely why managing expectations properly becomes essential:
If we view entrepreneurship through the myth of the unicorn start-up, any setback will feel like failure.
If we redefine success on our own terms, every setback becomes an opportunity for learning, growth, and embracing change which represents invaluable tools for any entrepreneur.
At Santander X Explorer, we advocate for entrepreneurship that is real, sustainable, and aligned with your values. Our narrative moves away from the fantasy of overnight, linear success, simply because it isn’t realistic (take a look at this Alumni’s testimonial — who even secured funding, yet did not “succeed” in conventional terms)... We also acknowledge the significant toll such narratives can take on entrepreneurial mental health. That’s why we created Explorer Coach, a podcast offering practical self-care guidance to participants in the programme.
How to manage expectations and build resilience
At such an early stage of entrepreneurship — like the one experienced in Explorer, where ideas are tested to determine whether people are willing to pay for a product or service — it makes little sense to focus on financial or growth expectations. Those may come later, much later, if the project is validated.
What you can learn at this stage is how to manage your personal expectations. Here are some key principles:
Dismantle the entrepreneurial superhero myth. Comparing yourself to high-profile founders and constantly consuming their stories, combined with today’s hustle culture, distorts what is truly required to build a sustainable project.
Be flexible. With your time, your energy, and especially your idea. If you want your project to succeed, you must accept that changing and redefining it is not only possible, but often necessary. This flexibility allows you to adapt to what reality reveals through experimentation.
Seek support. Family and friends matter enormously. At Santander X Explorer, community is one of the programme’s most valuable assets, offering feedback, encouragement, and shared learning.
Define small wins and celebrate them. Completing a programme deliverable. Getting five people to answer your survey. These achievements are real, no matter how small they may seem. And they deserve to be celebrated.
5. Analyse failures to learn from them. Every setback contains insight. Use it to understand the keys to pivot.
6. Create a “self-care metric”. Track your sleep, the time you dedicate to hobbies or switching off, and — most importantly — the learning you gain throughout the process. All of these are part of the returns your idea generates.
Embrace this mantra: constant iteration is healthy. It is far better to run effective experiments and learn quickly than to wait until everything feels perfect before launching. A well-designed Minimum Viable Product (MVP) provides invaluable insight into what customers truly want, clarifies your direction (or the need to pivot), and saves time.
Entrepreneurship is a journey, one that equips you with valuable tools and experiences. It is not a race towards something that doesn’t resonate with you. You are the only person who can define what success means in your life. Are you ready to join the Explorer community and share your goals? Pre-register here.
AI-generated image.
Related
