You are ready to take the step into the world of business ownership. You’ve read books, researched business startup information, and are knowledgeable about your industry. Now it is all about putting your ideas and plans into action. As you begin the startup phase there are a few things that many say you must do or must have in order to get started. So to help you weave through your entrepreneurial journey here three of the biggest lies that you been told before starting your business.
Big fat lie No. 1: You need tons of money to start
Are you building the car of the future? Are you developing a new sneaker technology that will make you jump higher? If not you do not need to raise venture capitalist funding to start your business. When you are in the idea and initial startup stage you are far better off raising money through local angel investors, or even friends and family before seeking out a venture capitalist.
Bootstrapping is the new money. When you are creative and find ways to go from idea to startup, the money will find you. Better yet, you will find ways to creatively and effectively move forward without shelling out the money that you don’t have.
Big fat lie No. 2: You need a business plan
Mission statement, vision statement, SWOT analysis, competitor analysis, growth predictions, and whatever else is in the business plan template you are using. You will read many books and articles’ saying that writing a business plan is critical to the success of any new venture.
Writing a full business plan takes time. To often flushing out a 100-page plan pulls you away from you taking action on your idea and launching. You will spend months and maybe years before you finalize your plan and guess what? You still haven’t started.
If you need an outside investor than yes a business plan is something you should have ready to present. This won’t necessarily make or break a firm’s decision based on your detailed business plan, but it will provide them with a certain level of comfort with your business.
That doesn’t mean don’t write a business plan, but even your plan won’t guarantee the success of your startup. Don’t let the business plan writing process keep you from starting.
Big fat lie No. 3: Wait until you are ready to launch
If you are waiting to be “ready” before you launch you will never launch. Get it out of your head as early on as possible that you will have a prefect-finalized product or service when you’re ready to launch. Your product will never be perfect, and you will be continuously reinventing yourself. Think about major companies like Nike, Reebok, and Converse. Do you think that they believe that they have created the perfect shoe? If so, we would still be playing ball in Chuck Taylors. You will always be thinking of ways to make your product or service better, and fixing bugs here and there. To you, your product will never be perfect and you won’t be 100 percent satisfied with what you have. But it’s this dissatisfaction that will drive you to be the best.
