The Top 3 Logical Fallacies About Entrepreneurship

Many dream of starting their own business.

To be able to have your own employees, make your own schedule, be your own boss and never have to worry about money again is a lifestyle undoubtably pretty damn appealing to most.

Starting a business now has never been easier.

For years, getting an MBA was the norm for anyone looking to start a business.

Now, because of the abundance of free online courses that are available, many argue a formal education isn’t absolutely needed anymore.

Given how often life demands money from us and how many times we see others making millions from their (sometimes seemingly stupid) ideas, more people are getting inspired to become entrepreneurs. I think that’s truly awesome.

But there are a few problems.

Too often, new entrepreneurs fall for ideological fallacies in business, which hinder their chances of success. A fallacy is basically faulty reasoning. It’s thinking something is true when it actually isn’t.

If you want to be an entrepreneur, you have an extremely rewarding experience ahead of you, even if you don’t ever make much money.

However, it’s important to understand what kind of mindset will decrease the odds of your business failing. Because after all, even if you’re doing something you love, you still kinda want to make that money.

1. The “I want to start a business” fallacy

If you want to start a business for the sole purpose of making money, your fundamental motivation will prevent you from actually creating a long-lasting business.

Sure, it’s easy to be encouraged to improve your financial status because of how much money businesses make. But most companies making a lot of money weren’t inspired by the thought of “wanting to start a business.”

They were inspired to solve a problem.

Solving a particular problem should be the core of your motivation. The money is secondary.

Besides, if you just want the money, you might as well just get a higher-paying job.

Entrepreneurship isn’t about making money. It’s about problem solving.

I’ll admit this was one of the hardest concepts I had to understand when I was starting out. I thought if I wanted to be a millionaire one day, I’d just have to start a business.

The logic is almost there, but not quite.

What I really should have been thinking was, “If I want to be a millionaire one day, I have to starting thinking of a problem to solve.”

You don’t have to aim to cure cancer. Do what you think can be changed because current solutions just aren’t good enough. Start by thinking about the problems you have on a daily basis.

As it turns out, most people (including you) will pay good money for products and services that solve actual problems.

2. The “I have a great idea” fallacy

There are no great ideas without an execution plan.

However, this doesn’t mean excitement toward a new idea should be diminished. You’re going to need to maintain that enthusiasm for a long time if you’re going to actually transform an idea into a business.

But in order for an idea to be considered great, it must make sense from a business standpoint.

How much will it cost to produce the product or service you want to offer? How much will you charge? Will that generate enough profit eventually?

Having an execution plan is crucial when trying to persuade investors or potential partners to work with you.

3. The “Someone already came up with my idea” fallacy

More often than not, I see people get discouraged when they come up with a brilliant idea they believe will skyrocket them out of poverty, only to find out someone else is already doing it.

There’s an assumption ideas must be original. The problem with that assumption is most ideas aren’t original.

Also, even if you came up with something no one has ever thought of, it still doesn’t mean you won’t have any competition or challenges ahead of you.

The thing is, if someone is already pursuing a business with an idea you thought of, this can be good news. It means your business idea might be good enough to succeed, and you may be able to avoid mistakes by observing what a similar business is doing.

Ask yourself these two questions: What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong?

Take the best of what they’re doing right and fix what they’re doing wrong. Sure, it’s not always that easy. But that’s fundamentally the strategy for handling competition.

Sometimes, you may not find much wrong with what a competitor is doing. This still doesn’t mean you should quit.

Put it this way: There are over 100 kinds of chocolate bars, right?

Why?

Is Hershey’s really much better than Crunch? Not really.

Are they both chocolate bars? Yup.

Are they basically two different versions of the same product? Precisely.

That’s where you come in.

You can create the same product targeted to a different market by offering a version of the product that appeals to a certain group of people. In business, this is called “finding your niche.”

Don’t worry if your idea is already in the works. There’s probably still plenty of room for you in the marketplace.