Common misconceptions about entrepreneurship

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You are born with it

This might apply to certain people but this doesn't necessarily disregard those who were not born without the skills or desires. Great entrepreneurs can be developed through nurture without the “perceived nature”.

You need to be Niche

Finding a particular niche does not guarantee success and it won't save your company from failure. As a business owner, you need to focus on offering a valuable product or service at a reasonable price.

How old are you?

Your age doesn't necessarily determine your businesses’ possible success. The only limits are in your mind, no matter how old or young you are, the possibilities are endless.

You have unlimited confidence

Your confidence as an entrepreneur is something that you work on every day. It is not easy to position yourself as an expert and promote your business.

You’re an overnight success

Aspiring entrepreneurs often follow the success story instead of the origin of that success story.

It's all about the idea

Entrepreneurship is 10% idea and 90% execution. Success comes from being able to execute your vision and make adjustments when necessary.

You make your own hours

Aspiring entrepreneurs often think that you make up your own working hours. The truth is that as the business owner its hard to turn your work mode on / off, you always have work on your mind, therefore, you are always working.

You are the next Zuckerberg People think that entrepreneurs are like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and other tech giants. In reality, many entrepreneurs did not just drop out of school and college to use their incredibly genius minds to get ahead.

You can still separate professional from personal When you become an entrepreneur your business becomes a huge part of your life. A great idea can be inspired by anything or anyone around you; it’s not easy to turn your mind off business when you get home.

As an entrepreneur/ aspiring entrepreneur what are some of the biggest misconceptions you have or had about being an entrepreneur?

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26 comments
Date Votes
  • Malakhiwe Mnikathi
    It has been the most demanding journey i've ever took and the intimidation brought by theuncertainty has been what sometimes weighs me down. But all in all no regrets :).
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  • Khanyi Magubane
    I think that its a mixture both being born with it but also having the right business training. The traits of an entreprenuer are often risk taking being a visionary not being afraid of the unknown being willing to travel a journey by yourself- meaning being of strong character those are traits one is either born with or not. But the actual knowledge and skills of running a business that one still has to learn and even if you dont have the natural born attributes if you have the right training and knowledge you can still be successful.. that's what I think in any case.
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  • Khanyi Magubane
    I know what you mean! At times the doubt sets in but then you remember why you started in the first place and you keep pushing!
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  • Shaun Anderson
    I am entirely convinced that the problem lies in the fact that a career as an Entrpreneur or a Sales person is not ever preached to young people as a real high profile and honourable profession in the same way as lawyer a doctor or an accountant is. But it is... Ive had converstaions with the 16 year old sonof an acturary. I asked the son in the company of his dad Why dont you aim to be an entrepreneur like me? Its a brilliant career.... and im kidding you the father came flying in like a missle....NONO never My boy you'll become a professional youre gonna always be better off working for a huge company using your maths accounting etc
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  • Shaun Anderson
    The idea of his kid being an entrepreneur by profession was worse than him saying he wanted to become an actor or an artist... it just would not do for his boy it wasnt a real profession hewas destined to work in a big firm with his business degree. If being a business person and an entrepreneurs is frowned on how are we ever going to instill in the next generation just how vital it is to the future of our planet our country. And i think sometimes even when people do become entrepreneurs perhaps deep down they think that its a second class profession... how wrong they are... this is the greatest professiona of all... be bold and be beautiful about entrepereurship
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  • Shaun Anderson
    You need clients as an entrepreneur. This entails an good p[ropostion and idea that you sell to the right person in a sector that suits your offering.
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  • Shaun Anderson
    I recall in my early days as a marketing and TV production business taht i was watch a show on TV about home makeovers. I thought i would get estate agents to show me houses for sale then have a team of people make over some rooms with paint and furniture and then ask how this makeover may have affected the selling price.. a before and after type show. and my idea was that by profiling only the top 10 estate agencies doing homeloan business with a bank in each episode this would encourage other estate agencies to want to do more busienss with that bank so they could get the publicity via the show. So i took this idea as a cold call to a bank and ended up making over 50 episodes with additional paint and furniture sponsors. It got me started asa happy successful long term marketing agency
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  • Shaun Anderson
    The issue is how to get to see the right people in the right company??? I can say that it helps to have a good network of people because someone knows someone else and that helps in getting a meeting. My meetings with the bank who sponsored the home makeover TV shows was just one person who knew the name of the marketing person and by having the name I was able to call and get to the right person straight away. But if you dont have the name its a matter of trial and error to find them and then get the meeting
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  • Shaun Anderson
    This also leads to another matter and that is getting the meeting. Your sales skills start here. Getting a meeting is as much of a sales technique as selling your idea or service. So again think about the objections people will throw at you to avoid the meeting. and work out ways around that. Use your creativity in getting peoples attention Highlight the benefits that the meeting might have to the client. And only use the phone to sell a meeting not to try sell the idea. That should be done face to face
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  • Shaun Anderson
    There are many documented sales closes like 1.
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  • Shaun Anderson
    There are many sales closing techniques With names like 1.
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  • Shaun Anderson
    1. The Puppy dog close - This is the idea that if you take the item home with you (like the cute little puppy) and you dont like it after a few days you bring it back. This implies that it is unlikely you will not have fallen in love the product (puppy) so will not return it and you have a sale. This can be used in trying to get a meeting... you say I have a disruptive marketing proposal that once ive explained it its unlikely youre not going to like
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  • Shaun Anderson
    2.The standing room only close is about there we are full but i might just be able to squeeze you in. This can be used in trying to get a meeting by implying the idea is very popular but id like you to see it firstbefore offering it to competitors
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  • Shaun Anderson
    3. The alternate choice close - I learned this as a youngster when i was taught in a restaurant that you NEVER ask the patrons the question Would you like a coffee? (or the like) because you always give the person the choice of only 2 answers - YES or NO and human natures seems to say NO first. So we ere taught that your give them a choice - something like Sir we have irish coffee Kalua coffes don pedro's espresso and cappachino's which would you prefer? You see hwat happens when you love and learn the techniques.... They almost always took one of the choices and seldom said NO... its as simple as that... so when you are making an appointment try offering a choice of dates .. that way you are likely that they give you one of them and not a NO
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  • Shaun Anderson
    The multiple YES's... If a series of discussion each result in a YES it is fairly likely that you will get a final YES so be probing for YES's when planning your presentation
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  • Shaun Anderson
    and dont feel that closing is some corny cheesy old school approach... the learning around sales is to create the mind set that allows you to control the conversation and lead it ina direction with the expressaim of closing a sale. This is the hardest thing sometimes for Entrepreneurs to make a habit becasue they are used to discussing telling debating but the killer blow is not part of our upbringing so we dont feel like we can do it natutally... tnaty why they say Your born a salesperson you learn the skills of sales
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  • Anitanel Nel
    I like this article. It touches on many aspects of not only the person driving the company but also some success factors for a company. I always thought that if you did not have a niche product you won't make it inthe market because there is so much competition but later on I realised that your competition has created a market for you and it is about many other aspects of business that you get your foothold in the market. I am not always sure however whether an entrepreneur is born or made. This article suggests that it is clear cut that they can be made. Is that really true?
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  • Sylvesterfalata Falata
    I also liked it and agree withthe sentiments shared. And Yes Entrepeneurs cane be made. and I second the notion that you dont necessarily need a niche product to succeeed there a market that has already been created by competitors. the question really becomes about how one can improve on what already exists. we dont always have to reinvent the wheel.
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  • Sarah Murray
    That's a good question! I think most entrepreneurs are born with that spirit however there have been many cases of people working in a corporate 9-5 lifestyle that have broken their mold and gone for it often with successful results! So say you are'nt inherently an entrepreneur what steps would you take in learning how to become one?
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  • Sarah Murray
    True Sylvester I find more often than not nowadays businesses then to be innovators rather than inventors. There are so many products andservices that already excist but aren't as effective as they could be - so why not improve those instead of reinventing!
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  • Anitanel Nel
    @SylvesterFalata if you agree that entrepreneurs can be made how does that happen? Do you thinkthey need at least some characteristics like being prone for risk taking for example?
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  • Sylvesterfalata Falata
    I also found the last point interesting. i find that what one does usually becomes an extention of who you are personally.
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  • Sylvesterfalata Falata
    There are certainly some characteristics that one needs and i beleive can be developed. Creativity Determination Discipline and Confidence to mention a few can be nurtured/learned.
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  • Anitanel Nel
    The statement about an overnight success is true. I once read that it often takes many years to become an overnight success. If you consider that Uber was already founded in 2009 and Airbnb in 2008 that sentence is seen in context. However the so-called millenials seem to demand instant gratification and needs a pat on the back for even less than mediocre performance. Can we expect that the new generation of entrepreneurs will be very different from the ones that brought us Uber and Airbnb?
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  • Sylvesterfalata Falata
    The instant gratification really produces a lot of flavour of the moment businesses and then run out of momentum.
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  • Jan Askew
    I think we cannot get away from the 10 000 hours of expertise theory. Youth & innovation do tend to go hand in hand but so do age & wisom! In my consulting business I am able to bring many years of experience & insight to bear on problems facing clients today. What we need to remember is that old dogs can be taught new tricks and that the younger members of the business world bring ideas and a technological awareness that can benefit business. Combining the best of both is surely the way to go?
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