Considering the frightening statistics that are so prominent about new businesses, it probably won’t come as a surprise to hear that there are umpteen myths doing the rounds.
As you may have gathered, this is the reason behind today’s post. Without further ado, let’s jump into some of the most common myths about starting your own business that you simply must banish if you are to progress.
Myth #1 – You need to arm yourself with expensive payment processing equipment
Once upon a time this might have been the case, but now it doesn’t work like that in the slightest. The development of the internet has certainly aided this, but let’s not also forget that many credit card terminals don’t arrive with any upfront costs. Ultimately, you only start to pay for them once your business gets to a stage where you are receiving transactions.
Myth #2 – You need a business plan
If you were to question any business expert, we’d assume that the majority would say that you simply must have a business plan to have any chance of succeeding with your company.
However, if you were to look at some of the recent, popular start-ups, you’d actually find that many of them never started with such an approach. Instead, they laid out everything very simply and found that it was much easier to stay on course by following such a basic path.
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that the business plan is the be-all and end-all. Some people will even waste money by employing someone to write one for them. Our advice is to only do this if you truly have to (i.e., you are seeking funding which requires a business plan).
Myth #3 – You need initial capital
In some ways, this is true. Something that the business books often fail to mention is that this doesn’t necessarily have to be your own capital though.
We are well and truly in the era of crowdfunding. Ultimately, raising money for a startup is anyone’s game, and you can be someone else who takes advantage of this. Even if you decide not to follow this modern route, you can still tap into bank loans and other “traditional” forms of finance to kickstart your business. In other words, you don’t need several million in the bank to succeed.
Myth #4 – You shouldn’t start your business whilst still in full-time employment
This is something that we strongly oppose, for the simple reason that a full-time job at least provides you with stability which is absolutely crucial during the initial months of a business. Sure, you might not have complete days to invest in your project, but this is where you will need to burn the midnight oil.
It can be tempting to throw away your full-time job, but let’s not forget that there are no guarantees that your business is going to be a hit immediately and you should keep it as a backup plan for now.
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