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The Truth and Lies of Owning Your Own Business

Written by: Cyndi Webb

Article Overview: While the trend continues to rise with millions on the entrepreneur playing field, more and more people find themselves contemplating whether starting a business is right for them. Initially there is the draw to the "romance" and excitement of carving out your own niche and creating a place of your own in the business world. But after a while, reality sinks in and this great plan you had can slowly begin to become a burden. You may discover it is not what you had anticipated. Your passion begins to fizzle and you can hardly entertain the thought of continuing on.

The Truth and Lies of Owning Your Own Business

While the trend continues to rise with millions on the entrepreneur playing field, more and more people find themselves contemplating whether starting a business is right for them.

Initially there is the draw to the "romance" and excitement of carving out your own niche and creating a place of your own in the business world. But after a while, reality sinks in and this great plan you had can slowly begin to become a burden. You may discover it is not what you had anticipated. Your passion begins to fizzle and you can hardly entertain the thought of continuing on.

Unfortunately, this is what can transpire when someone isn’t prepared or aware of what owning a business is truly like.

People need to be educated on the ups and downs, pros and cons, and realism as to what the journey of becoming a business owner is about. We need to put to rest the fallacies that potential new business owners fall for. It is because of these untruths that many individuals who venture into becoming an entrepreneur fail. Many times their dreams are pushed to the wayside due to being misguided by what they have heard.

One of the most prominent fallacies is that "anyone" can own and operate their own business. This couldn’t be further from the truth in my opinion.

A person needs to have the dedication, tenacity and drive that will see them through all the nuances that starting a business brings. Self-management is another quality that is a must and if an individual does not possess this, they are in for a very rocky road. Before diving into becoming an entrepreneur you need to take an honest look at yourself, evaluating the traits needed to be a successful business owner.

Another misguided belief is that a company will see financial success and gain in a short period of time. The reality is that a large percentage of small business go under within the first two or three years. Being that studies show it takes three to five years for a business to show a profit, there are some companies who are either giving up too early in the game, or not planning well for the long run from its inception. If more people were made aware of the financial issues and understood the reality in profit and loss for a new business, I believe there would be a larger number of businesses that could survive. Starting a business is not something that is going to make you rich in the first year, let alone in the first few months.

While dissecting two of the most heard and believed fallacies, we can give a more realistic view to a future entrepreneur in what to expect when starting their own business. Is this meant to discourage you from starting your own business? Is this meant to provide a negative view of becoming an entrepreneur? Not at all. Owning your own business can be the most rewarding, stimulating and liberating experience a person can have. It is necessary though to be fully aware of the time and financial aspects, along with the realistic expectations in starting a business of your own. If you join the entrepreneur playing field with the blinders off, and your eyes wide open, there will be much less frustration and an increased opportunity to create a satisfying and successful business.

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Article Tags: becoming an entrepreneur, business owner, business owners, business world, fallacies, financial success, nuances, own business, owning a business, pros and cons, realism, rocky road, self management, short period, sinks, successful business, tenacity, ups, ups and downs, wayside



Related Forum Posts
9 Lies that are holding you back - I've picked up this book to assist me with my conversations when coaching business clients and I've found it to be quite enlightening as distinctions are made. The book is titled "9 Lies That are Holding Your Business Back..." by Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford (aka Small Business Millionaire). I'll use this post in two ways: 1. To highlight A Lie 2. To help me internalize the concepts by writing about it in my own terms/understanding so that I can use it in future conversations (yes, I'm feeling a lil selfish and want to take you guys along with the journey) first post to arrive shortly on the First chapter: Lie#1: I Just Need to Know [i:23sag391]How[/i:23sag391] to Do This"
Business plans are a waste of time - I really like what Shri said in a previous post about how the usefulness of a business plan depends on the individual. However, after reading some of Martin Lindstrom's "Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy"... I'm beginning to think that all business plans and traditional market research (i.e. using focus groups, surveys, etc.) are a total waste of time. No joke, I'm serious. Lindstrom says "That's because, just like market research, economic modeling is based on the premise that people behave in a predictably rational way", but "Most of the brain is dominated by automatic processes, rather than deliberate thinking. A lot of what happens in the brain is emotional, not cognitive." ("Buyology" pg 28). Basically, consumers will tell you one thing, and do simply do another with their unconscious minds.
Re: Trying to buy own building - For that matter, what is best? Owning your own building, or renting office space?
My entry - 1. The Best Business Books Ever: The 100 Most Influential Business Books You'll Never Have Time to Read - this is a fascinating book about the history of Business theory, and I'd recommend it to anybody. 2. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don't Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants, by Tom Gegax. Ditto. 3. PADI: The Business of Diving Book Okay, so this book won't be of use to anyone who doesn't want to start a scuba store, but I did, and this book was of course invaluable to me in reaching that goal.
Me Too - So.... - I write. Its a form of 'pull' marketing that suits me, though I'm quite an outgoing person. I know all the stuff about it not being me, 'they're just not ready yet'. Truth is I'm not good with rejection and will walk if I get too much of it - so I do it differently. Each to his own I guess. Still, I wish I had the guts to do those 500, just to say 'I did it'! Will read that article!


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