MAM
GUEST COLUMN: What endurance sports teach us about business growth
Lessons in consistency, resilience, and teamwork from the track to the boardroom
MUMBAI: Business growth is often linked to strategy, networks, or investments, but Abhishek Punia, co-founder and CEO of ARM Worldwide, believes there is a more powerful driver: mindset. Drawing from over a decade of running a business and six years of endurance sports, he highlights how determination, focus, and resilience are critical to long-term success.
In this piece, Punia explains how lessons from endurance sports, such as patience, consistency, incremental progress, and teamwork, mirror the principles that fuel sustainable business growth. He illustrates how cultivating the right mindset allows leaders and organizations to turn setbacks into opportunities and steady effort into lasting results.
If you had asked me what drives business growth, I might have said strategy, the right people, networks, resources, or investments. And all of that is true. But over the past decade of running a business and the last six years of endurance sports, I have realized there is something even more powerful: mindset. The determination to push forward, the focus to stay on course, and the resilience to recover when things go wrong.
Endurance sports are unforgiving in a way that business often is not. They teach patience, discipline, and consistency. They teach you to move forward when your body and mind want to stop. My journey started with a few gasping meters of running. But over time, I found myself completing long distance runs, tough trials, and other ultra-marathons. That evolution, of breaking and rebuilding yourself, mirrors the growth of a business more than you might imagine.
Consistency: The everyday miles that build enduring growth
In running, no single long run makes a champion. It is the everyday commitment to training that builds stamina, skill, and progress over months and years. Business growth works in the same way: consistent effort in execution matters far more than occasional bursts of activity. Consistently delivering value, refining processes, and engaging stakeholders over time builds trust with customers and teams alike, laying the foundation for growth that endures through market ups and downs. Research on business execution highlights that reliable daily discipline in how strategies are carried out often distinguishes organizations that sustain performance from those that do not. Just as a runner’s long‑term progress comes from accumulating steady miles, repeatable effort in business drives momentum and credibility that cannot be replicated overnight.
Small steps, big gains: The power of incremental progress
Big goals can feel overwhelming, whether in running or in business. The key is to focus on small, consistent improvements that accumulate over time. When I started running, I couldn’t even cover 100 meters, and the idea of a marathon seemed unimaginable. Each short run, each small adjustment to pacing or endurance, gradually built the capacity to tackle longer distances. In business, the same approach applies. Breaking ambitious objectives into manageable steps, learning from each small win, and steadily building capabilities allows organizations to reach goals that once seemed out of reach. Incremental progress may feel slow day by day, but over time, it compounds into meaningful growth.
Bouncing back: How setbacks strengthen growth
The reality for most new businesses is stark: roughly 65 percent of businesses fail within the first ten years of starting up. This high rate is not mainly because of a lack of good ideas or talent, but because many ventures struggle to recover and adapt when challenges arrive. Marvel reinvented itself after bankruptcy in the 1990s, turning its characters into a global entertainment powerhouse. Adidas faced a major revenue loss in 2022, yet strategic focus and bold moves helped the brand bounce back stronger/ Some of today’s most successful companies endured dire moments early in their journeys and only thrived because they were able to regroup, rethink, and persevere. In endurance sports such as running, every athlete faces a point in a long race where fatigue, discomfort, and doubt threaten momentum. Training in these conditions teaches you not just to tolerate adversity, but to persist despite it. This capacity to absorb setbacks and keep moving forward is the same strength that when applied rightly on the work front, enables businesses to respond to market shifts, disruptions, or internal crises without losing direction.
The Strength of camaraderie: Learning together builds more than stamina
Think back to your school or college days, when you spent hours on the basketball court, football field, or working on a group project. What stays with you is rarely the score or the outcome, but the feeling of being part of something bigger and moving forward together. Endurance sports offer the same lesson. Long runs or team cycling sessions are tough, but they become easier and even motivating when shared with others who push, encourage, and support you. That shared effort builds patience, trust, and a sense of responsibility to one another. In business, the principle is the same. Teams that work, struggle, and celebrate together develop the cohesion and trust needed to achieve collective goals. Just as no runner reaches a personal best alone, no organization thrives without people who believe in each other and move forward as one.
Adapting to Win: Learning from Every Challenge
Every challenge in endurance sports is different. Weather, terrain, and unexpected obstacles require constant adjustment. Success comes from observing, learning, and adapting along the way. Business is no different. Companies that embrace change and continuously adapt outperform those that resist it. Research shows that organizations that prioritize adaptability achieve about 30% higher revenue growth compared with slower peers. Being open to learning, refining strategies, and adjusting to new conditions allows both athletes and businesses to stay competitive and relevant.
Finishing Strong: How Mental Toughness Drives Growth
Endurance sports show that success is rarely about talent alone. More often, it is mental toughness and focus that determine who pushes through challenges and achieves lasting results. The same holds in business. Growth comes from consistently showing up, navigating setbacks with resilience, and keeping attention on long-term goals.
Years of testing limits and leading a business have taught me that challenges are not obstacles to avoid but opportunities to strengthen resolve. Those who cultivate this mindset convert setbacks into milestones and steady effort into sustainable success.
Note: The views expressed in this article are solely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect our own.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
