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Myths of Entrepreneurship

With the entrepreneurial boom of recent years, business owners have been put in the spotlight like never before. Virtually everyone knows at least a couple entrepreneurs, and we hear about their lives and experiences, and wonder what is true and what is false. Here are some of the myths and realities of entrepreneurship, resulting from our experience working with entrepreneurs.

  • Myth: A small business is simply a little version of a big business.

    • Reality: most experts agree that a small business is not a little big business, and at least in the area of financial management must have a different outlook and must apply different principles than those ordinarily used by big companies.

  • Myth: Look at the world the way you want it to be, the way you think it ought to be, not the way it really is. Believe people when they tell you your idea is terrific because "everybody needs this."

    • Reality: Conduct the necessary research to determine if there is a need for your product or service and at the price you plan to offer.

  • Myth: Go it alone. Because it is your business, you must do everything yourself. Do not bother even getting started in business until you are comfortable you can be your own lawyer, accountant, engineer (or designer), marketing and financial expert. Try to be both a visionary and a detail person.

    • Reality: Use the guidance of experts. While you must be familiar with all aspects of your business, it's not realistic that you become an expert in multiple disciplines. Use the guidance of experts.

Regardless of whether you want to be an entrepreneur or simply be self-employed, the idea of starting a new business can be the most exciting, most terrifying, most difficult part of any undertaking. Unfortunately there isn’t a web site nor a book that you can just pull off the shelf, or a list of terrific business ideas anywhere, that guarantees success if you just add your time, money and effort.
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This site has been established for the aspiring entrepreneur.

As laudable as entrepreneurship might be, starting a small business is risky, so risky in fact, that most people will eventually fail at this attempt. As comforting as it might appear, the Internet, with it’s ample availability of information, will not in and of itself translate into success. What the aspiring entrepreneur/business owner requires is knowledge. Knowledge and information unfortunately are not synonymous, and to assume so, would likely lead to a failed outcome. The key to acquiring knowledge resources is do sufficient research, to investigate, and to identify those interactive programs that will provide the necessary personal guidance, to help you achieve your individual goals and aspirations. Knowledge is acquired only when context is added to information, a task very difficult to provide over the Internet.
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