Entrepreneurial - Myths about Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurial - Myths about Entrepreneurs

Challenges and Risks

Entrepreneurs are often thought of in terms of the risk they assume. Even the dictionary describes an entrepreneur as one who assumes business risks. However, like all prudent businesspeople, entrepreneurs know that taking high risks is a gamble. Entrepreneurs are neither high nor low risk takers. They prefer situations in which they can influence the outcome, and they like challenges if they believe the odds are in their favor.

They seldom act until they have assessed all the risks associated with an endeavor, and they have an innate ability to make sense out of complexity. These are traits that carry them on to success where others fail.

Entrepreneurs Are Born

Many people believe that entrepreneurs possess innate, genetic talents. However, experts generally agree that most entrepreneurs were not born; they learned to become entrepreneurs. The recent proliferation of college and university courses on the subject supports this point. Entrepreneurship is currently being successfully taught.

Money Motivation

Any successful entrepreneur will tell you that starting a business is not a get-rich-quick alternative. New businesses usually take from one to three years to turn a profit. In the meantime, you will do well to break even. During the business start-up stage, entrepreneurs do not buy anything they do not need, such as fancy cars. Most drive junk cars and use their surplus money to pay off debt or reinvest it in the business. Their focus is on creating a company with a strong financial base for future expansion.

Personal Life

All successful entrepreneurs work long hours, which cuts into their personal life. However, long working hours are not unique to entrepreneurs. Many corporate managers and executives work well beyond the average forty-hour work week. The primary difference between the entrepreneur and his or her corporate counterpart is schedule control. In the corporate world, you may not have control over your schedule. If some higher-level manager calls a Saturday meeting, you've got no choice but to be there. Entrepreneurs don't mind working sixty- to seventy-hour weeks, but they will do everything they can to preserve their private time. They schedule important meetings, during the week so that they can have weekends off for their personal life, which is very important to them.

High-Tech Wizards

We are all aware of a few "high-tech" entrepreneur wizards, such as Microsoft's Bill Gates, who have made it. Media attention overplays the success of these few high-tech entrepreneurs. Only a small percentage of today's personal businesses are considered high tech, and what was considered high tech just a few years ago is not considered high tech by today's standards.

It takes high profit margins, not high tech, to make it as an entrepreneur. One has only to look at the recent problems that have plagued the computer industry to understand this basic principle. High-tech personal computers did very well when they made high profit margins. The industry went into a nose dive when profits fell.

Loners and Introverts

Initially, entrepreneurs might work alone on a business idea by tinkering in the solitude of their garage or den. However, the astute entrepreneur knows that he or she must draw on the experience and ideas of others in order to succeed. Entrepreneurs will actively seek the advice of others and will make many business contacts to validate their business ideas. The entrepreneur who is a loner and will not talk to anybody will never start a successful business.

Job Hoppers

A recent study of successful entrepreneurs showed that most of them worked for a large corporation for a number of years before they started their own business. In every instance, they used the corporate structure to learn everything they could about the business they intended to establish, before they started. Entrepreneurs are not job hoppers.

Venture Capital Users

Entrepreneurs know that venture capital money is one of the most expensive forms of funding they can get. Consequently, they will avoid venture capitalists, using them only as a last resort. Most entrepreneurs fund their business from personal savings or by borrowing from friends or lending institutions.

Deceptive Individuals

Some believe that to make it as an entrepreneur, you have to be deceptive and step on anybody who gets in your way. On the contrary, this mode of operation doesn't work for the entrepreneur. The truly deceptive entrepreneur will not be able to seek help from others or retain suppliers or customers. He or she will ultimately fail.

Limited Dedication

That entrepreneurs are not dedicated to any one thing is a myth. Dedication is an attribute that all successful entrepreneurs exhibit. They are dedicated to becoming their own boss. To this end, they'll conduct extensive research campaigns into the advantages and disadvantages of their business ideas in their dedicated drive to start a business.

This article is taken from http://www.businesstown.com/entrepreneur/article2.asp