Entrepreneurship is one topic that has become really popular around the world. In Nigeria, it has become a way of life for millions. While some are building thriving business, some others are providing funding, tips and advice, and then, there are those that just have a lot to say about what entrepreneurship really means.
There are a lot of myths about entrepreneurship that many business owners have believed and stuck with, limiting them or leading to business failures.
Here are some of what you need to stop believing if you’re an entrepreneur that wants to grow:
Myth #1: Entrepreneurs are their own boss
Nobody is their own boss. Everyone has someone they report to.
Let’s dispense with the idea that someday you’ll be an entrepreneur in complete charge of your entire existence.
In many cases, your business becomes your new boss. It’s ruthless, demanding, heartless, requiring 15-hour workdays, and zero vacation time. If you are running a consulting business, your clients are your boss. If your startup gets funded, your investors become your boss.
So much for the no-boss paradise.
Oh, and while you’re at it, entrepreneurship is not necessarily going to produce that work-life balance, either.
Myth #2: Entrepreneurs have to be connected
Have you heard this saying? “It doesn’t matter what you know; it matters who you know.”
To succeed as an entrepreneur, do not believe that. How do you explain first-generation immigrants who comprise a huge percentage of entrepreneurs? Immigrants often come to a new country with no connections and no network. They are more likely to become successful entrepreneurs.
Unconnected entrepreneurs formed the business-building backbone in many countries, including Nigeria. If you read the story of how some Nigerian entrepreneurs started their business, you’ll realise connection is not always as important as we hear.
Entrepreneurs who realize that connectedness is a myth are forced to rely upon their own grit and determination, not some star-studded safety net. That powers them forward to start companies, and successfully run those companies.
Myth #3: Entrepreneurs are usually rich
Nope. Some entrepreneurs might become rich, but they certainly don’t start that way.
In fact, even once the business is up and running, entrepreneurs aren’t the fat cats that most people think they are. Entrepreneurship is not for the rich, and it might not even result in riches, either.
So, if you’re thinking it’s a route to get rich quick, you’re wrong and would be going into entrepreneurial journey for the wrong reason.
Myth #4: Entrepreneurship requires huge funding
Some people have this idea that in order to start a business, you have to have a pile of cash. And in order to get the pile of cash, you have to wheel and deal with angel investors, venture capitalists, and investors who ride around in chauffeured Rolls Royces.
The reality? Most of an entrepreneur’s “funding” is from his own back pocket. And what about the immodestly rich investor who’s going to bestow millions of dollars on your good idea? It’s a myth. Most angel investors are ordinary people who make ordinary amounts of money.
How does an entrepreneur get bankrolled? A lot of times, they don’t. They bootstrap. They growth hack. They build massive blogs with huge followings. They pull a line of credit. Some entrepreneurs will get lucky and funded, but it’s definitely not a prerequisite for the trade.
Myth #5: Entrepreneurs always take huge risks
In order to denude this myth, I need to tell you something about risk. In our culture, we’ve ruined the whole idea of risk. Today, “risk” is buying a house, or stepping into an elevator, or driving to work in a car, not investing or quitting your day job.
Are all those things truly risky? If so, then life is risk.
Entrepreneurs are risk-takers according to our conventional jacked-up ideas of safety. But maybe the entrepreneur’s risk-taking is nothing more than a tilt toward the unconventional, a good idea, and dissatisfaction with the status quo.
The entrepreneur’s risks are not the reckless actions of a devil-may-care upstart. They are decisions that are calculated, data-driven, dream-backed, and pursued with teeth-grinding determination.
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