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Myths of Entrepreneurship – Risk Taking (TEDx Talk) (Folta, 2013)
As with many other fields, entrepreneurship also has its own stereotypes or myths that provide not entirely accurate information or wrong information about an activity. We'll go through many of them below.
| MYTHS | TRUTHS |
| ABOUT THE BUSINESS IDEA | |
| “All you need is luck” | Actually, being in the right place at the right time requires an analysis of factors, events and trends, and the willingness to take action. It is necessary to take the maximum advantage from good times and to reduce the impact of the bad ones. Summing up, what is needed is an entrepreneurial spirit, rather than luck. |
| “Successful entrepreneurs were lucky to come across a great idea” | |
| “It is better to wait until a great opportunity appears” | You should not chase every opportunity or idea without evaluating it properly, but there is never the ideal time to start a business. Thus, when you feel you are onto something, then go for it. |
| ABOUT LACK OF MONEY | |
| “All you need is money” | The truth is that because of the internet, it is cheaper than ever before to start a business, and you need very little money to get started. |
| “A company cannot be created without money” | |
| ABOUT TRAINING | |
| “Entrepreneurs lack preparation” | Nobody has all the skills in their toolbox, and you will learn as you go along. However, successful entrepreneurs are usually very organized and keen learners. They also have a key set of skills that they can build on. |
| “To create a company, it is necessary to be able to produce something new” | This can be true, but doesn’t have to be true. Many companies improve upon or make tweaks to existing products. This really depends on your own ambitions and skillset. |
| “It is necessary to have a university education to successfully manage a business” | This is simply not true, as there are many successful entrepreneurs who didn’t attend university and many that dropped out of university such as Steve Jobs (Co-founder of Apple), Sir Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Group), David Green (Founder of Hobby Lobby, net worth $4bn). Also, university education can be very theoretical and doesn’t necessarily prepare you well for the real world. |
| BASED ON PREJUDICES | |
| “Entrepreneurs are unsuccessful people” | Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, there was a stigma attached to starting a business, whereas nowadays it is ‘cool’ to be an entrepreneur. Even though a lot of entrepreneurs fail, there is always something to be learned from the experience. One can maybe say that you are only unsuccessful if you don’t learn from your failures. |
| “An entrepreneur is a rebel” | You have to be a rebel to some degree if you want to change the status quo. However, like with other things, there are different degrees of rebel in different entrepreneurs. For example, Travis Kalanick from Uber certainly qualifies as rebel, whereas other entrepreneurs are quite the opposite. |
| “It is glamorous to be an entrepreneur” | The media often portrays an entrepreneur’s lifestyle as glamorous, which it is most likely not unless you have sold your business for a large amount of money. Building a business is a lot of hard work with a rollercoaster of emotions attached to it. |
| BASED ON THE CLOSE ENVIRONMENT | |
| “It is impossible to become an entrepreneur without the support and empathy of others” | It is extremely difficult to start a business without the support of others, especially if it is a tech start-up as various skillsets are needed. We live in such a complex world that it is essential to get help from others who have a specific expertise or have been there and done it before. |
| “The situation of the country does not allow for the creation of new companies” | Difficult times in a country often create new opportunities that can be seized by a new company. Starting the wrong company at the wrong time does not lead to success, but that is independent of the situation in a country. You should pay close attention to opportunities that arise and listen to what people’s needs are. Furthermore, difficult times in a country also bring the entrepreneurial community closer together and help is often more readily available. |
| ABOUT ENTREPRENEUR'S PERSONALITY | |
| “Entrepreneurs are born, not made” | A lot of different skills and behaviours can be learnt, but very successful entrepreneurs seem to possess a certain intuition and other characteristics that are very hard to teach. However, not everyone can be nor should be the next Facebook. Hence, there is enough space in the market for all types of companies and entrepreneurs. |
| “The real entrepreneur is made of a special material” | |
| ABOUT FEAR OF FAILURE | |
| “During the first year, no profit is achieved” | This very much depends on the type of business you are starting. Some businesses make profit from Day 1 and others are losing money for several years before they become profitable. Some never make a profit and are thus unsustainable and will fail. |
| “Creating a company is like playing the lottery” | If you have this attitude, you might not want to start a company just yet. In business, it is all about mitigating the risks and making a positive outcome as likely as possible. |
| “Business is uncertain, working for others is not” | Creating a business comes with a lot of uncertainty, but it also comes with a lot of advantages that you don’t get when you work for others. A combination of the two is becoming an intrapreneur, who takes risks while working for others. |
| ABOUT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES | |
| “Entrepreneurs act on impulse, they do things as they go along” | In general, successful entrepreneurs have very carefully analysed opportunities and have calculated their moves before acting, comparing planned outcomes with the aims, and only act once they have made a clear decision. It is all about mitigating risk. However, this does not mean that some decisions aren’t based on intuition, and they also learn things as they go along. |
| ABOUT POSSIBILITIES FOR BUSINESS CREATION | |
| “My professional background is not addressed towards business creation” | Even if you haven’t got a business background but you have expertise in a certain area, you can start a business. The necessary skills can be learned; you can recruit someone with the necessary expertise and there are a lot of support programmes like accelerators or mentorship schemes that can help. |
| “I can be my own boss” | If you start a company, you will be your own boss, but this is only true to a certain degree. Yes, you have a certain amount of freedom when you do things, but especially in venture funded businesses, your investors are on your back and your customers as well as suppliers also have their own demands that you need to address. |
| ABOUT BUSINESS CREATION AND OLDER PEOPLE | |
| “Business creation is for young people” | Older people usually have a vast experience in one or more industries and know what the problems are. This makes them especially suitable to start a business and solve those problems. |
| ABOUT BUSINESS CREATION AND WOMEN | |
| “Entrepreneurship is man’s stuff” | Women have the same possibility for success as men. Being an entrepreneur allows for a higher independence and can thus help with balancing work and family life. |
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References:
*A part of this content has kindly been provided by the authors of EN Youth Teacher Module 1 and has been modified for the purpose of this training module by Empact Ventures
Folta, T. (2013). Myths Of Entrepreneurship: Tim Folta at TEDxPurdueU. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=pLrXrdUVyPU [Accessed 7th January 2018]
