Entrepreneurial Myths

Like I find it patently hilarious when I hear someone demand "originality" in the arts, the concept of "have a new idea" in opening a business is bull shit.

The only people who want originality from others are the ones who have something to protect or serve as artificial barriers to entry.

For the longest time I fell into the rut of believing I needed to have an "idea" to run something. Something people can "use." It always struck me as somewhat superficial if not pure cockiness (anyone can go back and make their past sound better than it really is. Athletes do it all the time; claiming to have been better than they really were. Same with business people. Once they make it they tend to over estimate how they pulled it off. They'll rarely admit luck sometimes plays a small, if not huge, part) since I don't believe most people really do know what others want. More often than not, I guess, they start with something they believe in and it moves from there. If there's no demand or competition the really desperate ones find ways.

Magazines and television shows contribute to the misconception. They're always over rating "business leaders." For all I know, some of them made it by making deals with unsavory characters or have the right centers of influencers in their lives. True, and I mean tupelo honey pure, leaders who made it are precious few.


I was filled with all sorts of notions that really weren't realistic or necessary and all it did was defer my plans. There is no "key to success" but a willingness to save money for start-up capital, work hard and control costs. If you can execute intangible basics such as these along with understanding the value of customer sevice (because you're not selling widgets but YOURSELF and service), you're likely to make it no matter what. Simple as that.

Of course, I'm not saying get into a business where the competition is fierce if you don't have the proper support and moxy to rise against. It's not impossible but it takes a certain character to pull that off. You still have to be intelligent on how you go about things.

I entered a business that by all accounts is not glamourous. It nagged me a little that I wasn't doing something more "original" but this was the residual bull shit I was fed over the years. I got over it.

My goal is to provide great service and be the best I could be on this business venture. If people would narow down their expectations and remove any notions of unrealistic grandeur they could achieve a lot as entrepreneurs.