There are several myths associated with entrepreneurship that need to be quashed and the five main ones according to me are:

Owning a business i.e entrepreneurship does not mean you’ll get rich

There are several things that need to fall in place before a business can become successful and no that does not automatically mean that you get rich. Yes, typically the richest people in any demographic are the ones who run their own businesses but that does not mean that everyone who owns or runs a business will become rich. Owning and running a successful business is hard work and there are a lot more factors that contribute to making someone rich rather than the sole fact that they are entrepreneurs. Network, hard work, finances, the right human resources, innovative ideas, a USP, luck etc all factor into coffers overflowing and their successful intermingling is what indeed makes a successful entrepreneur rich.

Entrepreneurship is for everyone

This is simply not true. Just as everyone can’t be good doctors or good lawyers, so it is that everyone can’t be good entrepreneurs. While it is true that entrepreneurship does not require a degree per se, it does not mean that everyone is cut out for it. Different people have different skills and being an entrepreneur requires leadership skills, communication skills, networking skills, critical thinking skills and a whole bunch of other skills. And it is only people who have these skills that succeed in entrepreneurship.

You need to raise a huge amount of money to start a business

Now this is simply not true. You do not need to raise a lot of money from investors to get started. When you’re starting out try to bootstrap as much as possible i.e use your own resources and perfect your business trades and techniques. And when this is done and you are confident that your business will sell, you can then start scaling. Bringing a hoard of investors early on will not only add to the pressure of ensuring that the business does well but also creates an additional pressure of paying people back. If bootstrapping doesn’t work there are plenty of other options such as incubators and accelerators and even crowdfunding seems like a good starting point.

You need to be a risk taker to be a successful entrepreneur

This again is not true. While I agree that starting a business is a risk in itself, it does not mean that you have to take big risks for your business to succeed. There are some tried and tested methods in every business that have worked for others which are most likely to work for you too. So if you’re someone who would like to be an entrepreneur who doesn’t believe that they are gutsy enough to take risks, do not limit yourself. There are several safe entrepreneurs out there and successful ones at that too.

If you own a business you need to be the CEO

This is absolutely not true. A smart businessperson knows that if there is a candidate more qualified than they are for the position of CEO of the company or if they believe that they do not fit the bill for this position, such a person will hire more qualified and experienced talent for the same. This is not to say that they are relinquishing ownership over the business rather they may continue to hold ownership either through becoming a promoter or by assuming some other role that fits them best.