It is the dream of many to start their own business and be their own boss. A lot of people just assume that even though it would be nice, there is no way that their dream will ever be realized.
This negative way of thinking is because there is a great deal of misinformation out there about the challenges that come with starting a business. It won’t be easy, but you may be surprised by the myths that we debunk below.
1. You need a lot of money to start a business
The truth is that you don’t really need a lot of money to get a business started. Actually, you do need some money, just that it doesn’t need to be from your own personal savings. There are a lot of different ways to get financing for your business, such as getting a small business loan or requesting a merchant cash advance. By doing just a little bit of research, you might find that with the right business plan you could get the start-up money that you need.
2. It will be a long time before you can get a business up and running
You may be surprised that once you get the ball rolling you start to move very fast indeed when it comes to your business goals. In fact, you may even be up and running so fast that you wonder why it took you this long to give it a go in the first place.
3. You need a lot of experience running a business
What you don’t know, you can learn. It’s a simple as that. If you are very worried about this then it might be wise to reach out through your network to someone you know that has their own business. You can ask them to be your mentor and to help you through some of the more challenging aspects of setting up a business.
By learning from their experience, you will be able to avoid some of the pitfalls that they fell into and avoid some mistakes early on as you learn the ropes.
4. You’ll need to quit your day job
If you want your business to be a success then you should be dedicating as much time as you can to it. This does not mean that you should quit your job the moment that you have a great idea. You should hold off until you have financing in place and you are ready to start working full time on the project.
If you jump in too early and then discover that an aspect of the business is not viable you may risk losing everything. This is a fine balancing act and not a decision that you should take lightly.
5. You need a unique, million dollar idea to start a business.
This myth about starting your own business is probably the one that gives many people pause. The truth is that you really don’t need an idea that will change the world to start a new business. You are much better off going with an established business plan and something that has proven to be profitable. A new product or idea can be a very risky investment to the point where you struggle to find the financing that you need.
When it comes to your business idea you should have a solid business plan completed as you will need this to obtain financing. The business plan will include conservative estimates on how much you plan to make in the first few years of running your business so that you can plan accordingly.
