The 10 Common Myths About Entrepreneurship Debunked

At some point in our lives, we have all dreamed of the hustle culture.

It’s one of the imminent benefits of entrepreneurship, while at the same time, it also poses as one of the daunting myths of entrepreneurship. Whether such myths are legit or could be shrugged off with a grain of salt, this post will lay it all out.

We’ll state all the popular myths of entrepreneurship, the benefits of entrepreneurship, and common challenges associated with youth entrepreneurship.

Let’s get started.

What Is Entrepreneurship?

The basic definition or the concept of entrepreneurship is to plan and develop your own business with the intention of long-term scalability.

The latter could be in the form of different branches, increased revenue, enterprise-level clients, additional services, etc.

So, in that order, a prime example of entrepreneurship is to start your own business, regardless of age bracket, and to make a profit while doing so.

As alluring as it may seem, starting and owning your business is not that easy. Each day probably oversees a boatload of budding entrepreneurs, only to have them give up on their dreams, or regress due to some other issues.

To lay it all out clearly, we’ll talk about popular myths about entrepreneurship, and the ones that are probably less heard of.

10 Common Myths About Entrepreneurship Debunked

Here are the 10 most common myths about entrepreneurship debunked.

1. Entrepreneurship Is All About Gut Feeling

Gut feeling is part of everyone’s daily rituals, as far as making decisions is concerned.

One of the biggest myths of entrepreneurship is going along with gut feelings; starting a business on a whim and then steering clear of all the challenges ahead.

The fact of the matter is that founding a business on gut feeling rarely nets any positive results. The same goes for hubris because it leads to an early demise.

According to a 2017 consensus, there are over 582 million entrepreneurs on a global level. More than half of them got so much impressed with their daydreaming and ideas that they started a business without prior research, only to fail later.

It's not that easy to commit yourself to a business, solely based on intuition. Research, hard work, and planning are a layover that is part of the game. Buildings established on gut feelings don’t bode well. By the time budding entrepreneurs realize this, it’s too late.

By then, they have already lost their savings; they’re probably in debt and demotivated enough to not touch entrepreneurship with a yardstick for the rest of their lives.

2. Youth Entrepreneurship Nets Better Results

The ideology of youth entrepreneurship is starting a business at a young age, and then ideally scaling it as the years go by.

That becomes even more impressive when aspiring entrepreneurs read about the youngest so-and-so entrepreneurs in Forbes, The Herald, and Fortune magazine. Although it’s encouraged to start a business at a young age, it isn’t strongly advised.

Youngsters, especially, Gen Z folks have the tenacity to be impulsive. Those fake guru YouTube videos on how to become rich in 5 or so steps don’t do any good either. At best, these videos, tutorials, and “limited” edition training PDFs on becoming the next Dot Com millionaire are a sham.

Half of the time, people from the youth entrepreneurship bracket are roped into the idea of repeating those steps to find their own business. However, they aren’t made aware of the risks, pitfalls, and daily challenges of starting that business.

Needless to say, it’s another bunch of potential business ideas going down the drain.

3. Believing In Yourself Is Eventually Going To Net You Success

That’s a very impressive, tried, and tested analogy as far as the myths of entrepreneurship are concerned.

While believing in yourself and your dreams is worth it, entrepreneurship comes at a cost. Let’s say, you have started a business with enough success to make you believe that you can bypass upcoming hurdles. 

There’s always a moment when early signs of red flags start to pop up.

However, many entrepreneurs shrug off those warning signs, being under the impression that the economy or the downward business trend will recover, and things will be back to normal.

If there’s one piece of advice that we’d give you, do not give in to the delusion of grandeur. Believing in yourself is good, but keeping your ear to the ground for early signs of business failure, and having a backup plan is even better.

In the worst-case scenario, by foreclosing a business, you are minimizing risk. What if it’s loaned money or money lent from a 3^rd party at a compound interest rate? By the time you’ll throw in the towel, it’ll be too late. 

Paying back creditors is a nightmare to deal with. Plus, it stains your credit score for life.

4. Entrepreneurship Is All About Taking Risks

No, it’s not.

We’d say, taking calculated risks is much better than taking risks blindly.

Calculated risks highlight the potential for monetary loss, potential challenges, information about competitors, and foresight concerning key decisions down the road. Blind risk is about believing that your business idea is entirely unique; it hasn’t been tried before and putting all eggs in one basket.

Speaking of eggs, this brings us to the next set of entrepreneurship ventures.

5. I Quit My Day Job For Entrepreneurship Ventures & It Was Worth It!

As long as the business is well-researched and you have enough backing from a mentor, quitting your day job isn’t such a bad idea.

However, sending in your resignation at the early onset of profits in your side hustle isn’t worth it. There’s no telling how the economy will go, how your competitors will react to your business, and vice versa.

Your business idea is most likely, not unique.

You can maybe make a few alterations to the workflow and customer experience, but this so-called “unique” idea is either out there, or has been tried and tested before.

Plus, there are bigger competitors with better ad spend. If they feel threatened by your blossoming entrepreneurship ventures, they’ll throw in more money to divert your customers – and that too, at better prices.

At that point, if you have already quit your day job, you won’t have anything to fall back to.

6. Entrepreneurship Is Mostly About Making Money

Money is one of the driving factors behind entrepreneurship, but it’s not a means to an end.

Many people take on entrepreneurship for the love of it. To some individuals, it’s a hobby passion turned into a side business, while others do it for money.

‘Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Women In the Workplace’ 2020 edition stated that over 163 million women, after starting their own business, reportedly do it for the sake of having more flexibility, chasing their dreams, and independence. 

7. It’s the Entrepreneur’s Responsibility to Take All The Risk

Moving on with our myths about entrepreneurship list, we’ll talk about sharing the burden of risk and responsibilities.

During the early stages of youth entrepreneurship or adult entrepreneurship, risks and work-related responsibilities solely fall on the shoulders of one person. Alternatively, if these are partnership-based entrepreneurship ventures, then we’re looking at shared workflow and risk mitigation among a handful of people.

Still, that’s not a lot to go with.

But, over time, entrepreneurs are supposed to delegate, which they hardly do. They put in long hours and eventually buckle under mental and physical pressures. Human beings are made to endure, but they perform much better when there’s teamwork involved.

Speaking of teamwork, they always say that teamwork makes the dream work. So, get to it.

What To Do in Case of Team-Based Entrepreneurship Ventures?

·         Don’t forget to oversee the entire process

·         Set multiple hierarchies for reporting

·         Conduct standup meetings

·         Appoint a technology champion to teach team members about using a particular tool

8. Education Is Mandated for Entrepreneurship

No, that’s not entirely true.

Education is one thing, but your experience, sans education, is going to speak volumes about all entrepreneurship ventures.

One of the myths about entrepreneurship is that many people are under the impression that a high-level degree is required to supplement the effect of business success.

Similarly, another common notion is that no education is needed to climb the rungs, because your experience will make up for any other educational merits that might be lacking. 

The truth is, it’s the combination of education and experience to help you cover the brass tacks. Either one of them, in an isolated instance, will not yield results quickly.

9. Quitting Is Not an Option

Once again, in continuation with believing yourself to a delusional level, quitting seems like a far-fetched idea to the youth entrepreneurship bracket.

Quitting ahead of risks that would otherwise ruin you financially is a very good idea. In fact, it’s not quitting, but the way how you perceive it. 

Quitting means giving up entirely and never-ever thinking about the benefits of entrepreneurship throughout the entirety of your natural-born life.

It is okay to regress, and it is alright to take a few steps back, but that’s not called quitting. The same concept applies to shutting down a business after making a few calculated risks. If the juice isn’t worth squeezing, self-preservation is the best viable option.

10.  Successful Entrepreneurship Ventures Are A One Trick Pony Process

One trick pony is doing the same thing repeatedly, regardless of which business idea is. The intention is to succeed in doing the same things as your closest competitor is doing.

It is an ill-advised strategy. The reality is that your competitors may have favorable constraints to help them simplify the process and optimize workflow. If anything, entrepreneurship ventures have multiple keys to success, leading to different career ladders and pathways.

Conclusion

Of all the myths about entrepreneurship, do not compromise hard work and consistency.

Entrepreneurship is a ritual; a day-in; day-out struggle where you may have to lucubrate, feel lonely, and get tons of business ideas rejected. However, if you were to improvise, and be intelligent about making decisions along the way, you will eventually succeed.

In that order, success may come to you in the form of your first business breakthrough, or it may take several attempts and entrepreneurship ventures to reach that pinnacle.

FAQs

1- What are the benefits of entrepreneurship?

Independence in the form of the financial aspect, empowerment, and being able to turn your hobby into a professional project are some of the benefits of entrepreneurship.

Aside from that, entrepreneurs also enjoy setting their own work hours and being their own bosses.

2- What is the No. 1 risk-free platform for budding entrepreneurs in Pakistan?

If we had to hazard a guess, we’d say that Markaz is one of the best platforms due to a risk-free prospect for aspiring Pakistani entrepreneurs.

You start as a reseller and set your markup on different products that you choose to promote in your online and real-life social circle. There’s no hassle of packaging those products, keeping tabs on delivery lines, and vice versa. 

3- How do I start as a reseller on Markaz?

Becoming a reseller on Markaz is easy. Here’s what you need to do:

Download the official Markaz Android app!

·         Scroll over to the Wholesale listed products section from your account

·         Select the products you wish to promote in your social circle

·         Feel free to choose your markup percentage on your selected products

·         Copy your purchasing link for the product(s) and start promoting!

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