8 of The Biggest Lies People Told Me About Entrepreneurship

It’s common knowledge that 90 percent of startups don’t ever survive. So what do the 10 percent have that the 90 percent don’t? We are taught that succeeding as an entrepreneur is all about working ridiculously harder than anyone else and persisting beyond the challenges. It is understood that only then you will “make it.” However, that isn’t necessarily always true.

If you’ve recently taken a ‘leap of faith’ by becoming an entrepreneur, then you’re probably doing everything in your power to boost your chances of success. While doing your homework about the industry and market is essential, even the most thorough research is no substitute for firsthand experience. If you want to make the most informed business decisions and increase your odds of outlasting the business competition, it’s essential to avoid common mistakes that many entrepreneurs make.

Here are 8 of the biggest lies people told me about entrepreneurship when I first started out:

1. You Have to Give Up Your Day Job

Starting your own business is an endeavor that requires your full commitment, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give up your full-time work commitment right off the bat. In fact, many startups never become viable businesses. When I first started my business, I was still attending high school and was juggling classes with my business.

The majority fail within the first five years of the creation of business. Instead of giving up your day job, you’re perfectly able to start your business on the side/weekends and financially support your dreams with your continuous paycheck. Additionally, keeping your job can help you secure the financing you need to succeed.

2. You Need To Have All The Answers

Successful people are not the ones who start with all the answers. They have merely learned how to find out what they don’t know. Thanks to the information available online, you can’t make excuses for not knowing how to find the answers to things. However, when I started as an entrepreneur I didn’t have any experience or knowledge in my domain.

I really just dived into things and learned on the go, which is something any entrepreneur can do with the right effort. Many entrepreneurs have reached success by trial and error, learning from their mistakes along the way. They are not intimidated by what they don’t know, and they are not afraid to take action, even if it means making mistakes along the way.

3. Hard Work Is All You Need

Some people are going to hate to hear this, but only hard work alone doesn’t necessarily guarantee you success. I’ve seen some very hard working individuals that have failed. In the world of entrepreneurship, you will require the right connections, skills and talents necessary along with your hard work to achieve success.

4. Everyone Knows What We’re Doing

This one is the biggest lie of all. We have no idea what the hell we’re doing. There’s sometimes no rhyme or reason as to why some business strategies work and why others fail. Sometimes you have everything on your side: funding, market conditions, proven model, a killer team and you still fail. On the other hand, we also live in a world where entrepreneurs have figured out how to build multi-million dollar corporations selling water and gourmet coffee to the public. Entrepreneurs don’t always know what they’re doing and it’s perfectly okay.

5. You Don’t Need Any Help

Having help makes it a lot easier to juggle all the challenges new and growing companies face. There’s something to be said for overseeing the nitty-gritty in the early stages. If you need help, ask for it. There are tons of other aspiring entrepreneurs, investors and other successful individuals who are more than willing to help. Don’t be shy or scared to ask for help, it’s a really strong community!

6. Overnight Success Is Real

One of the biggest fallacies we believe about success is that it can happen overnight. This lie has been built by media stories that we read about overnight successes. It’s true that everyone loves a good story about how a person with no money and no status arose overnight to incredible levels of success, but it’s hardly ever the case. Unless you’re playing the lotto, you’re not going to be successful overnight.

But the fact is, all those overnight successes have been working at their trade and refining their skills and businesses for a long time. The only thing that happened overnight is that they finally got recognition.

7. Your First Big Idea Will Make You Rich

You probably have a killer idea that you can’t wait to bring to the market, but it’s important not to become too attached to an idea right off the bat. Entrepreneurs often find themselves going back to the drawing board before officially launching their products. Additionally, listening to customers is critical if you hope to improve upon the initial design. Not only that, but some entrepreneurs end up launching dozens of ideas before finding success. Persistence is key!

8. Growth Solves All Problems 

For some reason, people like to think that as long as your business is growing, you’ll be able to solve all your problems internally within the business. However, that’s a big lie. Bigger isn’t always better and I quickly learned the dangers of scaling too fast. You have to really nail your business model first before you can scale it. Don’t make the mistake of thinking growth will make everything better because it may just cause more problems.

Conclusion

Being successful with your own venture is not as easy as it may seem. You will face many struggles along the way and you’ll be forced to make sacrifices to succeed. When I first started out, I knew nothing about entrepreneurship but a lot of people gave me advice. In this post, I share with you 8 of the biggest lies people told me about entrepreneurship.