Understanding Start-up Businesses’ Challenges: Barriers and Breakthroughs
Written by Jessica Smart
This piece comes from an E-Lab Entrepreneurship Essay Competition winner from the 2024 competition. For more information about the Essay Competition, and to see the other winning entries, see this overview post.
Entrepreneurship is a journey marked by strategic risk taking, resilience and innovation. Every entrepreneur faces obstacles on their start-up journey, yet it’s those who persevere and adapt to challenges that succeed. Entrepreneurs are typically characterised by their organisation, motivation, decisiveness and creativity, all of which are tested when launching a business.
Today, around 20% of small businesses fail within the first year and 60% fail within the first 3 years[1] due to factors like cash flow problems, poor preparation and a lack of operational knowledge. However, in 2023, 850,000 entrepreneurs were registered in the UK[2], suggesting that the desire of freedom, autonomy and purpose outweighs the fear of failure for driven entrepreneurs.
One good example of a business who faced challenges at the start of their journey is Solar Buddies, co-founded by two working mothers who found a gap in children’s sunscreen safety. Many UK schools prohibit teachers from applying sunscreen to pupils due to child protection policies, meaning young children are expected to do it themselves, which usually ends in a mess. This inspired the co-founders, Kelli Aspland and Laura Waters, to design a child friendly sunscreen solution that children can use on their own through their efficient applicator.[3] Solar Buddies’ sunscreen has now sold 350,000 units worldwide since 2015.[4]
The pair, however, faced multiple challenges along their journey. One of these challenges was a lack of formal business background and no connection to investors, meaning they struggled to get access to initial financing options. As two women pitching an unfamiliar childcare product, their early attempts to access funding were met with scepticism. People were reluctant to invest in their product. Instead of giving up however, the two pushed to overcome these issues and were able, through personal networking, to secure a £5000 investment from a friend which allowed them to start the development process. They also consistently entered local business competitions to win any grants possible, demonstrating a determination and creativity to succeed.
A second issue for Solar Buddies was product design. The co-founders had no previous experience in running a business and did not know how to bring their idea to life or how to make their product tangible. To overcome this hurdle, the pair collaborated with Cardiff Metropolitan University’s product design department, with their extensive technical expertise to create the products, and were able to keep costs down. After launching their new product, Solar Buddies advertised their sunscreen on TikTok. This enabled them to flourish as they found a lot of parents who related to their struggles, causing a dramatic rise in sales in a cost-efficient way. They have since secured an £80,000 investment from Dragon’s Den. Experiences which suggest that a start-up business can succeed if they are persistent and willing to seek support from those more experienced.
On the other hand, not all start-ups grow at a rapid pace, especially when they take a more niche and sustainable approach. Suntribe, a small Swedish company, sells sustainable sunscreen using natural and reef-safe ingredients.[5] Their goal is to promote environmentally friendly skincare, but their low budget approach has brought some challenges.
The sunscreen and cosmetic market are highly competitive and saturated with well-established businesses. Suntribe has struggled to gain visibility in the market and faced marketing issues, unable to match the considerable budgets of bigger beauty brands. This has left Suntribe struggling to gain recognition and promote their products. Instead, Suntribe has focused on building a strong community. Rather than using adverts and billboards, they have focused on organic growth and letting the quality of the product speak for itself. Whilst this approach has worked to some extent, Suntribe has had a much slower path to growth even as it has seen progress.
A second issue Suntribe has faced is high production costs. Committing to more sustainable and environmentally friendly products naturally increases expenses and this has meant that pricing their products competitively has been difficult. Unable to match the price of major brands, such as Piz Buin, Suntribe have had to rely on their unique selling point to gain customers. This is not always reliable method – customers look for different things in a product, and most are conscious of pricing. Most of their 50ml sunscreens are £24.99[6], which is expensive for a small bottle, meaning they are struggling to attract a variety of customers of all incomes, limiting their global reach. Suntribe are yet to find a solution to this problem and perhaps need some external investment to be able to scale up production, to then reduce costs and improve affordability. This highlights that even when a company stands for something important, it still must deal with the realities of pricing and market demand. A lesson many entrepreneurs must think strategically on. But Suntribe are striving to educate people to protect their skin in a safe way by posting blogs[7], given that the cosmetics industry is rather unregulated, and this dedication to their customers’ safety makes customers feel valued and appreciated.[8]
Ultimately, the early stages of creating a business are littered with uncertainty and challenge. Yet it is this uncertainty that builds resilience and fosters innovation in entrepreneurs. Whether that’s developing unfamiliar products with limited funding and operational knowledge, like Solar Buddies, or carving your way into a competitive and saturated market like Suntribe, these characteristics are essential for success. For any aspiring entrepreneur, recognising that challenges are inevitable, but can always be solved, is a critical first step to starting a business.
Original Prompt: Q2: What are the biggest challenges faced by start-ups in their early stages, and how can entrepreneurs overcome them? Provide examples.
[1] How Many New Businesses Fail in the Uk? (Statistics 2025)
[2] Record number of start-ups registered in UK last year, official figures show | This is Money
[3] Our Story Page – Solar Buddies UK
[4] Solar Buddies - Deborah Meaden Dragons' Den investor official website
[5] Suntribe’s Vision To Shake Up The Sustainable Sunscreen Industry – Nourish Beauty Box