4 Common Myths of Entrepreneurship
I hear from people all the time, “you’re so lucky you work for yourself” — and my response is usually “there are tradeoffs.” I think it’s easy to romanticize entrepreneurship so here’s a quick rundown of the common myths I’ve come across and my real life experience in them.
Background: I’ve started two lifestyle companies both in outdoor apparel, bootstrapped, lean, and full of hustle.
Myth #1: When you work for yourself you don’t have to report to anyone or deal with people’s #*!^.
It’s true that you won’t have a Dilbert-esque boss but instead of one boss you now have customers (hopefully lots!), vendors, suppliers, and distributors, not to mention local, state, and federal governments to contend with. You’ll have to determine and prioritize what needs to be dealt with and how to address it. Is your customer always right? How do you build credibility with vendors as a new company? Why is it so hard to find comprehensive information on government websites?!
Myth #2: You control your own schedule so you will have lots of free time.
Entrepreneurs do not have lots of free time, at least that’s not my experience. It’s sort of like being in school when there’s demanding course load and assignments or exams are always looming in the back of your mind. My venture squeezed itself into every part of my brain space, which was both thrilling and overwhelming. It took me years to learn how to create a balance in a healthy way. Personally, I’m a bit twisted — I like the “drinking from the firehouse” feeling — but burnout is real, folks.
Myth #3: Taking the “leap” occurs only when you leave your (paying) corporate job.
Nope. I remember the challenge in leaving my corporate job, even though I didn’t enjoy it and was often frustrated. There’s something about stepping off the stability train that everyone else seems to be on, that takes some time and a whole lot of guts — absolutely. What I feel like no one ever talks about is that you have to continue to make that “leap” every morning, maybe even at lunchtime, and mid-afternoon. The first few years of entrepreneurship were filled with a weekly (okay, daily) back and forth of “this is the greatest” to “what am I doing with my life.” If this is you, too, you’re in good company.
Myth #4: If you build it, they will come.
Maybe? If this is true for your startup then that is awesome, but it wasn’t the case for me. I remember being so excited when my first company was featured in the New York Times. We had a photo and everything. Our conversion from that coverage: zero. Fellow entrepreneurs had the same experience with a widely covered launch and no lasting user adoption. It’s not to say that press isn’t helpful, it is, I’ve just found that brand recognition and customer acquisition takes time and perseverance (don’t get discouraged!). I see it as all the more reason to enjoy the process of designing and building a product, presenting that through a brand consistent website, and continuing to market to your target demographic.
Starting my own company was the ultimately the best decision for me, and one that I don’t regret, but also one that I did without understanding the full impact of what I was doing. I hope this myth-busting helps some fledgling entrepreneurs out there go into the whole experience, eyes wide open, with a little bit more knowledge than I had and know that their struggles are common and natural.
As always, please do add comments or questions. My experiences are just that, my experiences, so if yours differ, would love to hear about those too!
