The biggest myths when starting a business

1. The Biggest
Myths When
Starting A
Business

2. “There are two primary choices in life: to
accept conditions as they exist, or accept
responsibility for changing them.” ~Denis
Waitley
I have to be completely honest with you because
otherwise I could lead you down the wrong path.
Entrepreneurship is not for the timid. It takes a
pinch of courage, a lot of gumption and the ability to
be resilient – all will play a huge part in your
success.
More and more people flee the corporate jungle as
the allure of Entrepreneurship grows. But so do the
myths surrounding it.
We once believed that the world was flat, and
vampires lurked in the night whilst mermaids swam
in our seas, and these myths had to be debunked.
We now know the world is round and vampires do
not exist. I personally choose to still believe in
mermaids!

3. As well as general myths there are entrepreneurial
myths that halt most aspiring entrepreneurs and
stop them from making the leap, which I can now
debunk for you too.
1. You Have To Know What You Are Doing!
You don’t actually need to know what you are doing
when you start… even Steve Jobs and Richard
Branson have followed their gut instincts and not
always had an exact plan; they just had a general
idea that something was out there. Yes, you need to
build foundations for your business, but you won’t
have all the answers until you get out there and start
sharing what it is you are doing/want to do. Let your
passion for your idea shine – you don’t have to
know exactly what you are doing, just start.
2. The Founder Should Do Every Job In The
Beginning
A lot of founders tell me they don’t have enough time
for customer development, sales or marketing…

4. Yet they spend hours each week on things like
getting their website right or organising their
Dropbox.
Outsourcing every task bar the one (or two) which
are your sweet spot is the fastest way to get your
business off the ground. I tell those who join The
Corporate Escape Programme to keep their day job
until all systems and ground work is in place, unless
of course they have a years savings to fund them
and their start­up business…
By outsourcing the things you are not great at, or
don’t enjoy, you will free up your time to build
relationships and get clients. And unless you are
an accountant get someone to help you with your
numbers, or your new business could incur fines
and really get in a muddle.
Delegation is the key to your success and your sanity!
3. You Have To Start At The Right Time
Nope. The only timing that will ever be right is now.

5. Entrepreneur and podcaster Pat Flynn started his
first online business after the nearly simultaneous
news that he was being laid off from his corporate
job and that his wife was pregnant with their first
child. No one would likely choose that high­anxiety
period in their personal life to start a business, but
life tends to take us where we need to go.
Microsoft was founded in 1975 near the end of a
recession and later re­incorporated in 1981, just as
the recession of the 1980s kicked off. These were
two horrible times to start a business, but that hasn’t
stopped Microsoft’s success.
The timing will never be right — that’s why you need
to start right now.
4. You Have To Have A Lot Of Money To
Start
You don’t need a lot of money to start… In fact,
when I first started I had less than £100 a month on
outgoings and did a ‘contra’ for my first website. There
are a lot of ways to start your success without a large
amount of capital.

6. One of the best ways, as mentioned, is to start to sell
your services before you have even officially launched
and test the market. Build your business 5pm – 9pm
after your working hours and avoid getting yourself
into massive debt and worry.
5. You Have To Work 24/7
Well, I can’t debunk this myth, because although you
don’t have to work 24/7 the more effort and hours you
put in at the beginning, the quicker your business will
take off.
But you must also be mindful of burnout… If you
grind yourself into the dirt day after day, you will end
up cracking under the pressure and possibly halting
the business before it has even got off the ground.
There will be times of intense work, but you also
need to balance that with good sleep, a nutritional
diet, plenty of movement and lots of fun!
Entrepreneurship is a full contact sport, you are
going to get knocked down, but you will get up again
quicker if you look after yourself.

7. These are just a few myths that I was told that turned
out to be just that, myths.
There are many more, I would love to know what you
have heard about setting up a business and becoming
an Entrepreneur… what is stopping you from being a
Corporate Escapee? Is it a myth… or is the timing just
not quite right?