The 10 Myths About Entrepreneurship You Shouldn’t Believe So Your Entrepreneurial Journeys Will Be Easy
Prosperity, innovation, and continual growth are three central themes to the entrepreneurship world that people these days start to dream of becoming entrepreneurs.
There are so many people interested in even discussing the entrepreneurial issues that there are many formed opinions about entrepreneurs online and offline.
Yet, not everything people say about entrepreneurs is right; some are just plain wrong.
In other words, there are myths in the entrepreneurship world that, sadly, some people still believe.
Stop believing the 10 myths about entrepreneurship we’re going to shed light on here so your entrepreneurial journeys will come easier:
1. Entrepreneurship Is A Matter Of Genetics
The sad thing is, the #1 myth about entrepreneurship is that people tend to believe entrepreneurship is a matter of genetics. Hence, they don’t see the need to advance in their entrepreneurship careers.
In fact, most successful entrepreneurs hone their abilities through experiences and building networks and connections through online and offline means.
So, just because your parents and family members are entrepreneurs, doesn’t mean you have to be an entrepreneur as well.
2. Being Successful Entrepreneurs Always Mean Taking Entrepreneurial Educations And Other Formal Training
Being an entrepreneur doesn’t always mean taking formal educations in order to be successful.
The surprising fact is that only one-quarter of successful entrepreneurs make it to college degrees. The rest of them don’t want to pursue advanced degrees
so they can avoid student loans. These facts show that entrepreneurs don’t need formal educations to achieve their dreams and goals.
3. Successful Entrepreneurs Are Lone Wolves
The presence of entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, along with the possibility that entrepreneurs think of their business ideas alone in their garages or dens, deceive people that successful entrepreneurs are lone wolves.
The entrepreneurship world, on the other hand, requires joint efforts between people of different skills, experiences, knowledge, and many more.
Hence, successful entrepreneurs are not only great team players but also inspiring their teams with enthusiasm for their visions.
4. Entrepreneurs Have Crazy And Lofty Ideals
This myth comes to people’s minds because entrepreneurs have to be innovative and experiment with their ideas. Yet, that doesn’t mean people need crazy and lofty ideals to be entrepreneurs.
If you happen to ask yourself why are there mobile applications in similar industries (Uber and Lyft, for example), or how many pizza stores are around your home, you’ll see that you don’t need to be super-inventive in being an entrepreneur?
5. Entrepreneurs Don’t Have Personal Lives
Another of the 10 myths about entrepreneurship that you shouldn’t believe is that entrepreneurs don’t have personal lives.
Even though many successful people work for more than 40 hours a week, that doesn’t mean entrepreneurs can’t have quality time with loved ones.
As entrepreneurs, you are your own boss. Hence, you take control of your schedules, including your free time schedules.
6. Entrepreneurship Is All About Money
Money isn’t everything when it comes to the entrepreneurship world. Indeed, embarking on entrepreneurial journeys is never a get-rich-quick scheme as there are processes in building and sustaining businesses.
Instead, most entrepreneurs are motivated by achieving their lifelong dreams, realizing their business ideas, attaining control of their life’s decisions, obtaining as much flexibility and freedom as possible, and even ending up with social problems such as poverty, hunger, and education shortcomings.
7. Entrepreneurs Finance Their Business With Venture Capitals
Almost all entrepreneurs know venture capitals are among the most expensive funding sources.
As a consequence, research has proved that venture capitals don’t even come as entrepreneurs’ prioritized funding sources, compared to other possible funding sources, such as personal loans, credits, or money from friends and families.
Furthermore, venture capitals are not only small in size, but also have high requirements so your businesses will receive funding from them.
They also tend to fund a small number of businesses, making them shouldn’t be your #1 funding resource.
8. Entrepreneurship Require The Mastery Of High-Tech Equipment And Tools
Entrepreneurs are not always, by any means, high-tech wizards who master every single high-tech equipment and tool.
After all, the definition of “high-tech” is relative. The things that were considered high-tech yesterday don’t mean the same things are considered high-tech today or tomorrow.
Many business industries require no tech expertise, knowledge, or experience. Some of them are not even tech-related at all. Yet, all of them have equal potentials to succeed.
9. Entrepreneurs Are Often Ruthless And Deceptive
Some people think to be successful entrepreneurs, you should exaggerate the truth, banish people who get in your ways, and generally engage in unethical behaviors.
In contrast, researchers have shown those ruthless and deceptive entrepreneurs will waste time in building relationships with their employers, suppliers, and customers.
In the end, they lose everything and everyone they treat poorly. So, you should consider these findings as resources and references for not being ruthless, deceptive, or engage in any unethical behaviors.
10. All Entrepreneurs Are Young
This myth is present because the current trends show that Millennials aged 18 to 35 want to be entrepreneurs. Hence, many media predict the average ages of entrepreneurs will change over the years.
At the same time, this doesn’t mean all entrepreneurs are young. Consider Colonel Harland Sanders who found Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) at age 65, for example. So far, he was one of the oldest well-known entrepreneurs in the world.
There are other not-so-young people who become successful entrepreneurs as well.
Some examples of these are Mark Pincus (Zynga’s founder), Robert Noyce (Intel’s founder), Craig Newmark (Craigslist’s founder), Robin Chase (ZipCar’s founder), who are all in their 40s, or, the current average entrepreneur ages in the U.S.
In conclusion, the entrepreneurship world can be a hard world to thrive in. This applies especially if you continue to believe the 10 myths about entrepreneurship mentioned above.
Due to the many opinions, people form about entrepreneurship, there are still many myths about entrepreneurship out there you don’t want to trust in.
After all, it’s okay not to be the stereotype of entrepreneurs and still succeed in embarking on your entrepreneurial journeys.