Common Misconceptions About Entrepreneurship

We have heard a lot of stories from different people who successfully became entrepreneurs. These stories promise that you can be your own boss, set your own schedule, and have full control of how your business will go.

The truth is, most of these stories will not be as true as you want them to be. While I do not mean to discourage you from pursuing your goal to become a successful entrepreneur, allow me to give you a heads up before everything explodes in your face. Here are some common myths about becoming an entrepreneur:

You set your own schedule. Just like how an infant needs constant attention, a growing business needs your one hundred percent attention. Maybe you thought that since you will be your own boss, you get to set your own pace and work whenever you like. But the repercussions in taking it slow are great. You have to monitor your own business every day, plan out the next possible steps for it to grow, monitor your employees, and a lot more. Most successful SME owners will tell you how they would stay up late at night to make business decisions, and you should believe them. Only those who can dedicate themselves in growing as entrepreneurs will succeed.

A unique product will stand out on its own. This saying only works for those with long-established companies or those selling a niche product for a particular market. With the massive collection of existing businesses today, finding your product is just as hard as finding a needle in a haystack. You are a small entity in the middle of a bleeding red ocean of empires that have long been established. Starting your small venture will require you to know and implement marketing strategies just to make a mark on your industry. Do not think that you will become a trendsetter just because your product is the first of its kind—unless it truly is revolutionary, like, say, the cure for cancer. A unique product needs a strong support system; you need a good marketing strategy, as you do with any other item.

If you have a knack for selling, you will definitely succeed. Selling is not the only thing that you have to mind in a business. Even if you are able to sell ice to an Eskimo, this does not mean that you can sell everything. There are at least five functions in business that you must also focus on: management, sales and marketing, human resource, operations, and finance. True, sales savvy will give you an advantage in marketing your own product, but there are four other functions that you must properly set for you to succeed.

You can get your investment back in three to six months. Even the most expensive feasibility study will not be able to accurately predict your income. There are even some expert financial analysts who will predict your income down to the last centavo, but since the market is unpredictable, you might just be disappointed during your first few months. Some businesses take years before they get their investment back. Risks are everyday things in business that you must embrace.

You can delegate things you do not want to do. If you have built a big enterprise, then you can probably do this; but for those just starting, it is advisable to forget about this. For one, you cannot simply depend on other people to do things that you do not like doing because those things that you absolutely abhor may be the most crucial part of the business that you must be fully engaged in. We understand that most of us hate math, but since you are your own boss, then it is your job to do the math: compute for costs, price, project sales, set a budget for marketing and research, and compute for your taxes. While it’s good to have your own accountant, if you do not know how to compute the figures yourself, how will you check your accounts or interpret them?

Entrepreneurship has many rewards, but it is not always smooth sailing. You cannot avoid hard work if you want to have a good chance of succeeding. Be aware of the realities so that you would not be discouraged by the trials.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. C-4, Sunday, August 10, 2014. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.