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Business Startups: Separate Fact and Fiction

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Photo by Becky McCray

Lots of advice is available for anyone interested in starting a business.

But some of the claims are too good to be true, so you need to gather information from a number of reputable sources and sort out the myths from the realities before deciding whether starting a business is the right decision.

One of the biggest myths of owning your own business is that business owners get rich quick.

Profits rarely come quickly or easily, and business success may be measured in other terms, such as your ability to do what you want, or you are meeting a need.

“Build it and they will come” also proves to be untrue in reality. Each year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records more than 450,000 patent filings and grants nearly 200,000 patents. Yet less than 10 percent of those new ideas will be commercially viable.

Some small-business startup myths aren’t so obvious. For example: Starting a business takes a lot of money.

Reality has shown that many entrepreneurs started without a great deal of money. Many businesses start for $10,000 or less. The founders of Dell, Hewlett Packard and Domino’s Pizza started with less than $1,000.

However, entrepreneurs need to be prepared to invest some of your own money during the startup phase and have the ability and creativity to find resources through a variety of means.

Another common myth is that successful business owners are lucky. Business owners will tell you that, instead, the success of small businesses is based on hard work, staying aware of the market and good decision making.

So if you are looking to start a business, get the facts and avoid the fiction.

About Glenn Muske

Glenn Muske is an independent expert on rural small business, working as GM Consulting – Your partner in achieving small business success. He provides consulting, and writes articles for county extension agents and newspapers across North Dakota. Previously, he was the Rural and Agribusiness Enterprise Development Specialist at the North Dakota State University Extension Service – Center for Community Vitality.

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  1. Starting a business is actually the easiest thing in the world. Expanding your business and controlling overhead is where it becomes difficult. Growing the business is where you run into trouble. The biggest problem is where to get the capital to expand. Another is how can I control overhead. A consultant who can provide answers to these problems is golden,

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