Starting a new business always carries a risk of failure. That risk, however, doesn’t deter the owners of the 600,000 businesses Inc. magazine reports are founded each year. Owning your own business is a tremendously rewarding experience…if you do things the right way.
If you’re ready to start a business, you’ll get advice from everyone you meet…or at least it feels that way. Watch out especially for these five common entrepreneurial myths:
1. Launch Only When Ready
If you wait for the perfect moment to start your business, it will never evolve past an idea. Every new business faces a mountain of obstacles in early stages of growth. If you are dedicated to making your business work, the potential rewards outweigh the tribulations ahead. Avoid being a perfectionist. Your product does not need to be flawless. It only has to meet a need in the marketplace. Set a schedule for launching your business and follow it to the best of your ability.
Bottom line? Don’t launch before you have a business plan and a product, and don’t wait until everything is “just right.” Find the happy medium so you can start making back the money you spent starting the business.
2. Don’t Use a Credit Card
Credit cards can help cover initial expenses associated with starting a business. Or, they can be a tool used to track spending and earn rewards. Of course, using credit cards inappropriately can be as dangerous in business as in your personal life. While credit cards shouldn’t be relied upon, they can useful in myriad ways, depending on your business needs. If your business requires travel, for example, the Gold Delta Skymiles card, a business credit card at AmericanExpress.com, offers 30,000 miles if you spend $500 in the first 3 months.
Bottom line? The better advice is to not rely on credit cards.
3. Originality Equals Success
True innovation is increasingly rare. Chances are that the million dollar idea kicking around in your head has crossed the mind of more than a few people. Some entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs take the world by storm with revolutionary ideas. Odds are, however, you are not the next Steve Jobs.
Bottom Line? Most start-ups that find success do it by being valuable. Offering value to customers is the best way to ensure their loyalty and your success.
4. Your Start-up Will Dominate Your Life
Many people equate running a new business with doing everything alone. The entrepreneur has to have their hand in all the little details or the business will fail. The problem is that grueling hours and sleepless nights are not the best formula for building success. Everyone needs a break. You have to have a life outside of your business to keep fueling your desire to run said business.
Bottom Line? If you have trustworthy business partners and employees and the ability to delegate, you can have a life and a business simultaneously.
5. You Are Always in Charge
Just because you start a business, doen’t mean you’ll be the big boss for the rest of time. Many entrepreneurs who found a business will often cash out and move onto another project after a few years. As needs change and a business grows, companies often bring in outside talent to fill management roles. Often, reports Business Insider, that’s at the expense of people who helped get the company off the ground.
Bottom Line? If you move on or appoint new leadership or are no longer the best choice to run the business, you have to let go of the steering wheel.
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