Money Making Tip Sheet
Ten Myths Get a Reality Check

This money making tip sheet provides a reality check to the ten most common myths about starting a new business.

1. Myth: Look at the world the way you want it to be, the way you think it ought to be, or the way the media (or your schoolteachers) told you it would be--not the way it really is.

   Believe people when they tell you your idea is terrific because "everybody needs a cheerleader". Don't be "cynical" because nobody likes cynical people.

   Money Making Tip/Reality Check: Conduct the necessary research to determine if there is a need for your product or service and at the price you plan to offer.

2. Myth: Don't be too aggressive in pursuing your business goals. Allow things like your personal life to take large chunks of your available time, and be so nice to your competitors and your customers that they walk all over you. Being pushy and demanding (especially of yourself) is not normal, and people will think you are crazy or, even worse, "ruthless". Worry a lot about what other people think about you.
   

   Money Making Tip / Reality Check: Most new business ventures take more--not less--time, energy and stamina than any job you may have had. Fortunately, the rewards of business ownership usually are worth the effort.

3. Myth: Choose a business because of its intellectual content, not because it sounds exciting. You are an educated person and must use that education to be successful, or else you're a failure. Never mind that many successful people in business never finished high school (or in some cases grade school). Given the choice between an interesting business and a lucrative one, choose the former.

   Money Making Tip / Reality Check: Find out what it is that ignites your passion. Look at your motivation to start your own business. Is it to make more money? Be your own boss? Turn a hobby into a career?

4. Myth: Don't bother learning anything about accounting or financial management. You can hire accountants to do this for you, and success in business doesn't really depend upon the numbers anyway.

   Money Making Tip / Reality Check: The more you know about every aspect of business--finance, marketing, management--the better off you'll be. As a business owner, you need to keep you fingers on the pulse of your finances. Also, it's imprudent for someone else to know more about your business than you do.

   Financial results may highlight areas of your business that require adjustments. For example, suppose one of your products is selling better than others. What does this tell you? Can you make adjustments to your sales strategy to increase sales of other products?

5. Myth: Go it alone. Because it is your business, you must do everything yourself. Do not bother even getting started in business until you are comfortable you can be your own lawyer, accountant, engineer (or designer), marketing and financial expert. Try to be both a visionary and a detail person.

   Money Making Tip / Reality Check: Use the guidance of experts. While you must be familiar with all aspects of your business, it's not realistic that you become an expert in multiple disciplines. Use the guidance of experts available in many forms such as SCORE, the SBA and the Woman's Business Center, online resources (such as the articles at Leadership-Tools.com), networking groups and more.

6. Myth: Give away lots of stock in your business to everyone you know. It doesn't cost anything, and isn't it better that lots of people have a piece of the action?

   Money Making Tip / Reality Check: What's the point of going into business for yourself if you're going to give it away? Managing your profits as well as your assets are an essential part of maintaining a successful business. Maintaining full ownership in your company is very important to the future survival of the organization. There is a big difference between being generous and simply being foolish.

7. Myth: Tell everybody everything. If you learn something about your business that gives you a competitive advantage, tell the world about it, especially at an industry conference or a "networking" session.

   Money Making Tip / Reality Check: There's a reason why the formula for Coca-Cola is top secret! Savvy business people know the difference between sharing knowledge for the improvement of a cause or industry and keeping competitive secrets.

8. Myth: Choose a business that requires skills, money, other resources or a personality that you do not currently have. You can always get these from other people. Besides, isn't that half the fun of small business--doing the impossible?

   Money Making Tip / Reality Check: Use your strengths and natural talents as a place to start. You'll need to develop new skills as a business owner. However, it’s very important that you know enough about the subject you are about to attempt to sell to others that you are credible in the eyes of your prospective customers.

9. Myth: Confuse your business and your personal lives. Don't bother distinguishing the two because you are simply too busy.

   Money Making Tip / Reality Check: Both your business and personal lives will suffer without clear boundaries between the two. You need time to play, be with family and friends or simply relax. Likewise, you need to let others know when you're "on the clock" and not able to attend to personal matters.

10. Myth: Forget what it was that made you want to start a small business in the first place. In the long run, it doesn't matter what success means to you as long as you're successful. Just remember the main objective is to make money.

    Money Making / Reality Check: Your original dream or reasons for starting your own business may be just the thing that sustains you during tough or challenging times. Additionally, a well thought out mission statement will keep you on course and help guide a wide variety of decisions.

Starting a new business will be the most exciting, and yet most challenging thing you’ll ever do. Just remember, nothing worthwhile was ever done easily, or without running into some real tests along the way.

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