Starting and running a business is hard work. It takes time and it takes effort. Noone needs anything or anyone to make it harder than it needs to be. On the contrary, you need every help you can get and every support which will help you on your journey.
That said, be mindful that all that glitters is not gold, like helpful articles which set you up to fail. Here are 5 business facts I read all the time about starting or running a business, which are simply not true.
#1 ”If it’s hard work, you’re doing it wrong.”
Really? Think about this.
I set up a cake shop because I love baking cakes and my cakes are the best cakes anyone ever tasted. They sell out every day. But I hate doing the accounts and the finance side of thing is just hard work. Am I no good at running a business? Or is it just that I don’t enjoy accounting or maybe I am not good at accounting.
There are so many aspects to running a business, there is no way you can be an expert in all of them and you probably don’t enjoy all of them. So find a different solution like outsourcing. Get an accountant or a bookkeeper if you hate it or whatever you need and save your talents for the core of your business.
#2 “If you haven’t got the right mindset, you might as well stop your start-up and get a job again.” Or “If you don’t leap out of bed in a morning raring to go, you may as well quit.”
What is the “wrong” mindset and how can you tell if you have it? Maybe your “wrong mindset” is actually the sign of something else.
What else is going on?
Are you doing too much? Are you exhausted? Looking after yourself is so important.
Is there something else on your mind?
Are you procrastinating? If you have to do something that you don’t enjoy, then you will probably put off doing it.
Maybe it is just outside of your expertise.
Do any of these mean you should quit? Not in my opinion. A good business coach can help you discover a way to identify the obstacle and get past them.
#3 “You have to have an MBA to start a business”.
Whilst qualifications are good, they don’t tell the whole story. If you have done something professionally for many years, then you are probably an expert in that particular thing and know more than someone qualified in that field. (Obviously exceptions apply here, for example, doctors etc. J)
You can also become an expert by reading and informing yourself, which costs nothing and as people tell me frequently if you know more that the next person, you’re the expert so go for it.
#4 “You have to have a detailed business plan”.
A business plan is actually just a way of organising your thoughts about what you want to do and putting all your strategies in one place. A detailed plan may be needed if you have to get investment to start your business like a bank loan, but if you don’t need financing, what you need is an outline of your goals, what you want to achieve or how you plan to go about that. Putting it down on paper does give you an idea of what you know and what you don’t. Your outline can then be updated as your business evolves.
#5 You need a new idea or product
Not true. If someone else is doing it already, then it shows it works. No point in reinventing the wheel when you can take an existing idea and improve it. Maybe you have a different take on an existing idea like a room rental company which doesn’t own any rooms or a taxi company which doesn’t own any taxis.
(AirBnB and Uber if you didn’t work it out!)
Still feel like starting that business? Then go for it.
If you want to bounce your ideas of someone or if you started your business and want someone to help you move it forward, why not get in touch for a free review: