Entrepreneur celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Jay-Z and Mark Zuckerberg inspire millions and our culture continues to encourage and celebrate entrepreneurship highlighting wealth and power. At the same time as an entrepreneur of 8 years I have personally seen for every success there are millions of failures that are not celebrated, highlighted or achieve wealth or power. Many of these failures could be avoided if the founder knew these common entrepreneur misconceptions.
Entrepreneur magazine’s 7 Misconceptions About Entrepreneurship (http://bit.ly/2Edcr69) by Jayson DeMers (@jasondemers) lists the following misconceptions:
1.) Entrepreneurs are born to lead.
2.) The idea is everything.
3.) You'll have unlimited freedom.
4.) It's an easy way to get rich.
5.) Success will come fast or not at all.
6.) It's all on your shoulders.
7.) You know the secret to success.
Business Insider magazine’s 12 Common Misconceptions About Being an Entrepreneur (http://bit.ly/2LMq14H) by Jonathan Long (@long) lists the following misconceptions:
1.) Entrepreneurs can only be successful if they have large funding backing them.
2.) Entrepreneurs have cushy hours.
3.) Entrepreneurs have to do everything themselves.
4.) Entrepreneurs need to be well connected in order to make it.
5.) Entrepreneurs have to take huge risks.
6.) Entrepreneurs need to be located in Silicon Valley in order to make it in tech.
7.) Entrepreneurs are never stressed out.
8.) Entrepreneurs are their own boss.
9.) Entrepreneurs are all wealthy.
10.) Entrepreneurs work from the beach and Starbucks a few hours a day.
11.) Entrepreneurs have more personal time
12.) Entrepreneurs just need one good idea to be successful.
From these expert articles I have distilled 5 common misconception themes and 3 actions to be taken to help avoid failure.
Misconceptions:
1.) Entrepreneurship is an easy way to get rich and become wealthy.
2.) Entrepreneurs have life balance, cushy hours and no boss.
3.) Entrepreneurs have to take huge risks.
4.) Entrepreneurs are born, not just anyone can become one.
5.) Entrepreneurs only need one good idea or product.
Actions:
1.) Be prepared, do your homework, nothing is easy. Google it, find resources and talk to people.
2.) Be patient, success takes time and effort, measured in years and night/weekend hours.
3.) Be persistent, always be learning. Anyone can do it yet it usually takes more than just one idea to be successful.
In summary anything is possible yet that doesn’t mean it is going to be easy or quick. Be prepared, patient and persistent.
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