Starting a new venture from the ground up can be an exciting process. Choosing your first place of work, narrowing down your niche business model and defining a clear plan of action are all common emotional experiences that entrepreneurs go through. But even these first steps can present challenges to overcome.

My first startup was an Internet company called Joyo.com, which I co-founded in late 1999. This was in the early days when the Internet was still very young and full of undiscovered potential. The first three months of Joyo saw many heated debates within my team as we tried to agree on what we wanted our startup to achieve – with so many opportunities available in the web space at the time, from e-commerce and web portals for travel and gaming sites, it was difficult to decide on the best course of action.

At times like these, a founder must trust in their ability to make tough decisions and stick to them. This kind of unwavering resilience can help guide entrepreneurs in the early stages of a company. So I finally decided to build Joyo.com as China's first B2C e-commerce platform at the end of February 2000. Joyo became the largest such site in China at that time and was acquired by Amazon in 2004 and renamed as Amazon China.

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My second venture, DHgate, was a much more difficult challenge. As China's first B2B e-commerce platform, it was extremely difficult validate our business model and attract investment. I found out how cold and heartless the business world can really be when we almost ran out of funding just before we launched in 2004. An investor who had signed a contract to fund us suddenly reneged on his promise at the eleventh hour, which meant I had to fall back on my savings to pay the remaining employees at DHgate, never knowing if that week might be my last.

Without enough funds, we gave up the office and moved to a 20 m2 conference room next to the toilet of a friend's company. My office chair was broken, but my hope was strong. I was able to find a way to stay focused on the positives and the possibilities. Most importantly, I looked inward for strength and confidence in my business.

Beyond one lack of funding, the biggest problem we faced in the early days was that no one believed us. This was back in the mid-2000s when traditional commerce was still booming. No one believed that the entire complex process of international trade could be achieved online. Validating our business model was like running a marathon – a long and challenging trial.

Most entrepreneurs experience moments like these. Mentally, the early stages can be the most difficult period of building a company. However, we persevered and today DHgate is one of the leading cross-border B2B e-commerce platforms in the world.

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The hardest challenges give the biggest rewards

Keeping a new company afloat is a daily struggle. Challenges and obstacles come from all directions – you may have to deal with limited access to capital, a small and overworked team, lack of market knowledge in a possibly overcrowded market, and a lack of mass understanding about the business or technology, among other factors.

Your staff and investors all have high expectations, and you should also set high standards for yourself. Maintaining motivation and high energy in the office is a constant challenge, especially when everyone knows you're feeling exhausted and anxious. This creates an incredible amount of pressure and stress, which is placed on the shoulders of founders who already struggle daily with self-doubt.

However, running your own business can also be incredibly rewarding. Every entrepreneurial journey has its ups and downs; if you can find the right path and persevere through obstacles, you can achieve things that no one has done before and your efforts can be rewarded a hundredfold. These growing pains are also worth it for your personal development.

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Strong founders who make it through the early stages of entrepreneurship tend to have a few key characteristics. New founders can benefit from embracing these three core values ​​or standards to adhere to:

1. Talk to your heart to follow your passions

Your founding journey will become even easier when you're chasing a dream you're truly passionate about. As a bonus, you will be able to make your team more passionate, too. When faced with difficult decisions, talk to your heart for guidance. I have done this many times in my life to help me choose a path that excites my imagination and keeps my interest.

2. Be brave and dare to do difficult things

If you listen to your heart, you will hear an answer and your next course of action will become clear. So take action! Start looking for opportunities and you'll find them – it's practically inevitable if you look hard enough. As long as you know what your goal is, it doesn't matter if you can't see the path from the start. The important thing is to start walking that path.

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3. Be persistent

Eventually, you will stumble on your way. Everyone does. The key is to celebrate your failures, learn from them, and keep moving forward. Stability it just requires that you keep showing up every day to pursue your goals. If you listen to your heart and follow your passions, optimism and faith in your projects, it will come much easier. It may sound cliché, but I believe that although it is not magic at first, unwavering persistence in any goal can create magic.