Myth No5: Entrepreneurship Is Glamorous

Good morning, another day another dollar, I hope you had a good weekend. This myth was supposed to be delivered to you last week on Friday, unfortunately we could not update our blog in time. We had a very successful board meeting, we also met strategic partners as well as some clients taking up all our time on Friday. Which homes perfectly with the above misconception people have about running your business.

While it can not be denied that being your own boss is rewarding, it should be also be borne in mind that starting your own business is far from glamorous. If your motivation of being an entrepreneur is to escape the grunt work then entrepreneurship is not for you. You will have to wear many hats in your business, you want coffee in the morning before you start work, you will have to get yourself. Filling – that is your responsibility, you need to type and post a letter that is you again. You will also have to answer the phone when it rings as well as reply to emails. You are as a matter of fact responsible for almost everything in your own business. The hours will be long, the work varied and the pressure will be on you to make it happen. While this does not paint entrepreneurship in an attractive way, it should be noted that once you have put the initial hard work you are primed to reap the rewards of your hard work. It is important that you put all the above into perspective and not to fool yourself by thinking that running your own business is glamorous and that you will do high end tasks. Entrepreneurship is not for the faint hearted nor is it for people who are lazy, you will have to dig deep within your psyche to make it a success .

If you want to go prepare yourself for entrepreneurship, we have just 5 places left in our Start-Up-Like-You-Mean-To Business Start-Up Workshop call me now on 07815490248 or email info@crosbyabbott.com to grab your place . Have a good day. Israel Mutanhaurwa MD Crosby Abbott

Myth Number 3: Entrepreneurs Are Money Motivated

Good morning, they myth number 3 we are exploring today is that entrepreneurs are obsessed with money. Thats far from the truth, while entrepreneurs’ products and services rewards them, money is actually an afterthought to most entrepreneurs.

There is an old adage that says if you want to make money be very good at something, whether you paint or bake such that you are willing to provide your service for free,  but however because you are so good at what you are doing people are actually willing to pay you for it. Entrepreneurs do not chase after money but money rather  chases after them.  Their products or services are solutions to the problems faced  by their customers be it business or individual customers.

During the business start-up stage, entrepreneurs do not buy anything they do not need, such as fancy cars. Most drive junk cars and use their surplus money to pay off debt or reinvest it in the business. Their focus is on creating a company with a strong financial base for future expansion. They are so sure in their products and services that the solution they are povididng for their customers will reward them so they spend time fine-tuning their products and services such that they will produce a perfect solution to their customers problem.

At Crosby Abbott we provide various solutions to our customers, for example we create stunning websites so that our customers can get an online presence, an extra sales channel  or as a way of  communicating  with their own customers or employees. If you are a would be entrepreneur find a solution to your customers, the better the solution the more rewarded you will be, do not chase after money rather let money chase after you.

Myth Number 2: Entrepreneurs Are Risk Takers

Entrepreneurs are often thought of in terms of the risk they assume. Even the dictionary describes an entrepreneur as one who assumes business risks.  Common culture celebrates entrepreneurs as freewheeling, larger-than-life characters who are heedless of risk. They dream big and always swing for the fences, or so the story goes.

The reality is that most entrepreneurs, particularly successful ones, excel at taking calculated risks where “heads I win, tails I don’t lose much” applies. They go to great lengths to mitigate risk whenever possible before making a commitment and find ways to shift the odds in their favor. Amar Bhide points out that entrepreneurs who start promising—but uncertain—ventures are not necessarily risk seekers, but rather are willing to act in the face of the unknown. Experiments indicate that aversion to risk and aversion to ambiguity (uncertainty) are distinct psychological traits. Moreover:

Attitudes toward risk and attitudes toward ambiguity are uncorrelated; risk-taking individuals who are prepared to bet heavily on structured gambles may be highly averse to ambiguity, and an ambiguity-tolerant individual may be exceptionally risk-averse.

However, like all prudent businesspeople, entrepreneurs know that taking high risks is a gamble. Entrepreneurs are neither high nor low risk takers. They prefer situations in which they can influence the outcome, and they like challenges if they believe the odds are in their favor. They seldom act until they have assessed all the risks associated with an endeavor, and they have an innate ability to make sense out of complexity. These are traits that carry them on to success where others fail.

So when you start a business you are not gambling widly but assessing your strengths and taking a calculated risk against failure. This is all achieved through planning, if you have not booked for our Start-Up-Like-You-Mean-To Business Start-Up Workshop please book your place now we have limited places. The initially planning you will do will dtermine whether the venture you want to start is risky or not.

Debunking The Misconceptions About Entrepreneurship

Number 1: Entrepreneurs Are Not Born

This week we are going to debunk myths about entrepreneurship, today we are looking at the myth that entrepreneurs are born.

Many people believe that entrepreneurs possess innate, genetic talents. Part of the mystique of entrepreneurship is the idea that people who found successful businesses are a breed apart from the rest of us. While it’s undeniable that some individuals have a knack for business, it’s also clear that entrepreneurship is a set of skills that can be learned by most people. However, experts generally agree that most entrepreneurs were not born; they learned to become entrepreneurs. The recent proliferation of college and university courses on the subject supports this point. Entrepreneurship is currently being successfully taught.

However what cannot be taught is the desire to start and run a business, but beyond that attempt to identify a distinct personality profile of entrepreneurs have failed. The traits that lead to entrepreneurial success are essentially the same as those of high performers in other disciplines. Persistence, hard work, intelligence, and creativity are important in whatever field you work in.

So let dispel here and forewith the myth that your parents must have been entrepreneurs, you can be the first person in your family to start a business. It certaily helps if your parents ran their own business as you can have experiences to draw up on but its not a pre-requisite for starting your business.

Acquire the skills

Crosby Abbott runs a number of training, workshops and seminars with the primary aim of equiping every would be entrepreneur with a set of skills that can help them start-up and run a business. We also are home to the growing network of enterpreneurs.

On the 4th September we have such a workshop in Crawley West Sussex.  Start-up-like-you-mean-to Business Start-Up Workshop can set you on a solid foundation that will ensure that you avoid mistakes of early pioneers and set yourself up on a path to success.

Start-Up Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

A lot of business start-up in the UK many flicker and then falter before they are viable, every start-up is different but the list of mistakes we have compiled are common to all start-ups be it in UK or anywhere else. Is there anything that new entrepreneurs and small established businesses can learn from it. There is indeed.  Read them here (registration required)