7 Myths About Entrepreneurship Worth Clarifying
Tags: Self Improvement, Entrepreneurship, Myths, Entrepreneur, Business

7 Myths About Entrepreneurship Worth Clarifying

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We are living in a curious time. Indeed, we have gone from a point where the entrepreneur was considered to be a little more than a madman with a dream to one where the whole weight of the future economy falls on.

Becoming an entrepreneur is sexy in 2020, isn’t it?

Before you decide to get on board, I think it’s necessary to clarify certain popular myths that do more harm than good to the figure of the entrepreneur.

1 — You Just Need A Great Idea

I usually say that the idea per se is not worth anything. We all know two different people who say that they came up with the idea for Facebook before Zuckerberg… nonetheless the one who became a millionaire is not the one who had the idea but the one who executed it.

It doesn’t make sense to wait for a magic idea which will make everything change. Actually, it seems quite simple; you just have to look at the everyday problems that people have, how they solve them and figure out if there is a better way to solve them.

Once you get to this point, at least, you will be on the trail of something interesting.

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2 — You Don’t Need Money To Start A Business

Okay so it’s uncool to say this…but, yes, you need money to launch a new business.

However, if you start in sectors where the initial investment is not very large or where you are able to use more agile channels maybe you don’t need that much.

Truthfully, there is nothing worse than leaving everything to start your big project and realising that you have run out of money before reaching the next milestone and, thus, you cannot continue. At that point, either you throw in the towel or you start looking for funding in the middle of the project (which is strongly not advisable).

You better get on board when you’ve got the money you really need to get started.

3 — Setting Up A Company Is Easy

Well, actually no (however, with time and patience is achieveable). What is extremely hard and complicated is building a profitable company. Although there are many books on the market that tell you how to create a business, none will tell you how to create your business.

So you’d better prepare yourself for a tough time and to take a number of trips on the famous entrepreneur’s roller coaster (with times when you want to eat up the world followed immediately by times when nothing goes right… and back again).

4 — You Need To Create Something Really New

We have been sold the idea that great visionaries who have created new products and markets, where no one has ever been before, are the rule when in fact they are the exception.

If we think carefully about many of the inventions that we consider today as paradigms of profitability and innovation (the iPod or Nespresso for example) we will realise that, most of the time, they are not new ideas but new approaches to ideas that already existed (typically resegmented markets).

5 — A Business Plan Is Always Necessary

We have been told ad nauseam that the first thing is a good business plan in which we analyse everything that is going to happen in the future, who our clients are...

To be honest, I can think of many better ways to spend 2 months than writing a business plan. What is, indeed, necessary, is a reflection on the business model of the company (what needs we are going to solve, what are the problems that your future clients suffer…).

Be that as it may, the key is not to imagine what is going to happen and what problems we think they have but to go out on the street and talk to real customers; observe them and create with them.

The truth is out there and not in your business plan.

6 — You Become An Entrepreneur Because You Hate Your Boss

Interestingly, some people think that, once a company is set up, the hated formerly boss figure who used to make arbitrary and unpleasant decisions, disappears.

Usually what tends to happen is that, instead of your old boss being the one making the wrong decisions, you become accountable for your own mistakes and for solving all the complicated obstacles.

Nonetheless, there’s nothing better than being able to make your own mistakes and to learn from them.

At some point, if your business succeeds, you may stop being a hardened entrepreneur and you can become someone’s hated boss.

Image From Pixabay

7 — A Good Idea Will Bring Fast Money

Unfortunately, having a good idea is not enough to make money fast. Many of the businesses we know have taken years to become very profitable and make a lot of money.

The key to entrepreneurship is not opportunism, but execution: If you do things right for a long time, with no doubts that money will eventually come. However, don’t expect to get rich in 6 months or for Google to buy you out tomorrow (hopefully, I’m wrong).

Key Takeaways

All in all, entrepreneurship is a process of exploration; it’s about finding the best business model in an environment of high uncertainty. Therefore, it’s convenient to: