I want us to talk a little about those misperceptions that people have of the entrepreneurial profession, because they should know that once you have started your company you have also started a formal profession, such as medicine or engineering. As if this were not enough, it is also mandatory for you to evolve your mind and behavior towards the life that you will lead from here on out.
This profession, apart from being very beautiful, also requires from you a degree of preparation, which allows you to respond adequately to daily challenges, to make correct decisions and act accordingly. That is, they must proceed professionally, even if their area of expertise is not exactly administrative or managerial.
Apparently, the confusion arises precisely in that anyone can be an entrepreneur, regardless of what their area of study has been or even if they have not had them. But what is never said is that an entrepreneur is not just anyone. This profession is not an informal activity, it requires preparation and capacity on the part of the aspiring businessman.
In the following articles we will see some of the most hateful myths that misinformation and the little corporate culture of our environment have formulated around our profession and I say hateful, because for any businessman who reads them, the least they can produce is an absolute rejection to their postulates, which less value and distort our activity.
1. Entrepreneurs do not analyze but launch into entrepreneurship
Absurd, to say the least; This myth has its origins in a fairly common practice of entrepreneurs, but poorly observed by critics. What often happens is that the entrepreneurs themselves seem to make their decisions without any analysis, they accept or reject businesses in the blink of an eye and they even hear comments like "I never did a study for my businesses."
We cannot blame careless observers for assuming this as a light and meaningless standard of behavior, but we can demand that they stop to see better the decision-making mechanisms we refer to.
In the first place it is illogical to think that an entrepreneur "gets into" a business without first analyzing its chances of success, this would be like jumping out of a plane without a parachute waiting to land on an air mattress. The truth is that business is always analyzed. The speed with which decisions are made depends on the experience and the accelerated capacity of analysis of the individual, it also depends on the method of analyzing the data.
Many entrepreneurs have learned to make their calculations and insights mentally, this is because they know that speed is essential in the business world, but it should not be confused with a hasty posture.
On the other hand, critics tend to formalize behavior, are guided by theoretical standards and do not appreciate the evolution of practice. By this I mean that not every time it is necessary to carry out in-depth studies to know if a business is worthwhile. In some cases it will be necessary to study the options in detail, but generally these procedures are unnecessary in small projects.
An exception may be primiparous entrepreneurs, they must first get used to the formal method to develop their capacity for accelerated analysis.
In short, the apparent carelessness with which entrepreneurs decide their movements hides a refined and fast mental method of work. What is really important is that the decision is made with conscience and using reason.
2. Entrepreneurs are born, not made
One more outburst of deterministic theory. It seems that this misinterpretation is the result of ancient paradigms about man's ability and his destiny. Even from the time of classical Greek culture, the discussion was established as to whether a slave could overcome his birth condition, it is not unreasonable to think that the intervention of the defenders of the status quo could also influence people to think wrongly.
In the case of entrepreneurs, it works exactly the same. In the past, managers were believed to be people who were genetically willing to assume business positions. Even today in Germany, as a cultural backwardness, if the executive does not have a high stature it will be almost impossible for him to reach high managerial positions.
It is undeniable that some basic physical and mental conditions are needed, such as good health, readiness to work, and intelligence. But the entrepreneur must also learn to be one, there is no way for the child to be born knowing everything and it is statistically verifiable that it is not necessary to be a descendant of entrepreneurs to be one either.
Today, business schools are blurred all over the world and it is perfectly logical to think that this myth is about to disappear, fortunately.
On the other hand, business and the way of doing it have evolved. Although it is true that basically the final interest has not changed, if the tools to achieve these lucrative purposes have. This is how cunning, smell and intuition are no longer sufficient qualities but are still necessary.
3. If you are not like the ideal, you are not an entrepreneur
Perfectionism strikes again. It seems an endless horror movie, every day we meet people who believe that the businessman is made of what surrounds him, I explain, it is daily to listen to the conversations of the abused critics, who compare the activities of two individuals and rate their business grade for the degree of technological development of the company they run, that is, when it comes to a company that manufactures computerized construction equipment, then yes, the one who runs the firm is an entrepreneur, but that individual who is assembling a canned microenterprise with his family, that is an "adventurer", who shows little faith and how much ignorance those who say that show.
It is true that many entrepreneurs comply with all the characteristics of the prototype, in good time for them, but there are many more who do not fully comply with those stiff and preconceived parameters, the truth is that the entrepreneur does not depend on the prototypes, nor What surrounds you does not depend on the capital you have or the technology that your company manages. The true heart of the entrepreneur is in his "business perspective", if the individual has a hard-working spirit, decision and action towards the market, then he has a business perspective on life, his life and the world, which makes him different, makes him an entrepreneur.
The academy, what it does, is to awaken those talents and enhance the disposition of the individual. In a more extreme case, training must be aimed precisely at those who are not entrepreneurs, so that this perspective is believed in them, or at least they know that it exists. The true heart of the entrepreneur is in his "business perspective", if the individual has a hard-working spirit, decision and action towards the market, then he has a business perspective on life, his life and the world, which makes him different, does it businessman
4. With money you automatically become an entrepreneur
This myth seems like a bad joke about the son of a billionaire. If it were that simple, surely many of us would lose interest. Unfortunately this argument has been used thousands of times by those who only want to hide their uselessness and mediocrity. Many think that complaining about the lack of capital have already gotten out of trouble, but the saddest thing is that many of us believe this fallacy and vehemently support the excuse of the shameless individual.
In the first place, you should not talk about money if you do not know how much is needed and where you are going to invest. The airs of greatness and the enormous dreams are the order of the day. But an investor will be safer if the project is manageable. The problem is not money, nor is it true that it is the solution, many times large capital is wasted on business ideas that were born dead, they are usually advanced by people who do not value capital, obviously I speak of the strategic importance of this and its difficult achievement. Here we talk about a distractor, "money", and we have invented that access to it is impossible, but we never think that for someone to support us financially, we must give them a good investment option and that means a lot of work. Make a good business plan, mature the idea,carefully study internal financing options or the source of seed capital; All of the above is the work of the entrepreneur, from the beginning it is known that he must provide financial resources, it is one of his obligations, regardless of whether he has his own resources or not. it is money, nor is it true that it is the solution, many times large capital is wasted on business ideas that were born deadmany times large capital is wasted on business ideas that were born deadmany times large capital is wasted on business ideas that were born dead
5. Entrepreneurs are unprepared
How about this pearl. We have already seen that Nostradamus was wrong about the end of the world, we have passed the barrier of the year 2000 and we continue to think that entrepreneurs are those who did not go through school. This is what happens when observations are made lightly and without liability. The origin of this myth is undoubtedly the little detailed investigation of the levels of study of the entrepreneurs of the past. That Mr. Pedro Pérez never went to university and look where he came from, that Mrs. Fulana de Tal only finished primary school and is now a woman with a lot of money thanks to her businesses and companies. Now, let's see in what context these people developed, it turns out that the 70-year-old Don Pedrito did not go to university, first because access at that time, when he was 18, was very difficult and second,the only university was in the capital and it turns out that the 68-year-old lady only finished primary school, because at that time that was the accepted level for women.
If you look at the societies of those years you will notice that the vast majority of people were in the same situation as those of our example, the level of competition was different, the production methods were also more rustic and the required preparation was not as high as today, however who had better training had more opportunities, only for pedagogical purposes imagine the society of the middle evo and detail Venetian entrepreneurs they did not have the opportunity for a formal education, but it was not necessary either. Now imagine all the possibilities that exist today, not those of 30 or 40 years ago, and reflect on whether a more rigorous academic training is necessary.
Of course there are other ways to get money, but here we are talking about the legal style, unless you prefer to be a donkey loaded with gold.
6. Entrepreneurs are failures
This myth is sincerely ridiculous, but unfortunately it occurs much more frequently than is desirable in our society, it is related to two contradictory factors that Latin psychology has not overcome, or has misinterpreted with some malice and envy.
As we saw previously it has been given to demand perfectionThe one who is called an entrepreneur and therefore if he does not meet those parameters must be sanctioned as a failure. In other words, if you did not have good grades in your career, you cannot be an entrepreneur, let alone a successful one. This attitude is highly dangerous because it is the policy of the crocodile, this animal bites you and drags you to the mud where it is and then it suffocates you to devour you when you can no longer leave its swamp. Logically, people are not going to bite you or physically drag you, but they will do so with their appreciations and comments. "If I don't take a chance you can't try it either. In a few words it could be said that "he had no other choice and he became an entrepreneur" this myth is similar to that applied to teachers "those who did not learn well remain teachers", frankly absurd, linear, obtuse, narrow.
On the other hand comes the conception of success and failure, is that being an entrepreneur who founded his own industry and now has a small company with around 50 employees and who is a failure to go after that dream ?, this man had to leave his employment sacrificed many comforts in a long-term plan.
So the bank manager, who retired after 25 years of work and now lives on his pension, is a complete successful man? The idea is not to polarize our appreciations and free ourselves from bad feelings towards those who seek success or those who have achieved it, stop associating negative factors with positive realities, look for the positive of these entrepreneurs, learn from them, maybe they can teach you more than your neighbor's crocodile that drags you into the swamp and doesn't want you to at least try.
7. All it takes is luck
Another typical response of the compliant and incapable, what if we speak more honestly and say "is that I did not take advantage of the opportunity", instead of belittling others. But as always these myths have a foothold in reality, which has been misinterpreted or poorly analyzed, fortunately businessmen do understand it and that is why we are special. It is about the famous luck. It turns out that things do not happen because, it is necessary to be at the right time in the right place and with the right attitude to capitalize on opportunitiesThat is the luck of the businessman, it is not the luck of the one who won the lottery, nor of the victim of the attack, it is a luck worked and intelligent. Of course, for complete conditions to exist, fortune can be an alternate factor, but in the business world it is called opportunity, so as you will see, the rest of the people talk about another type of luck, not the luck of the entrepreneur. When this is clarified then it will be understood that a capitalized opportunity is not a lottery. If it were the same, then we just have to sit in a park and buy the lottery of success to win a successful company, but that does not exist, because simply real life does not work like that. But if you insist on the success lottery, at least don't call it that; call her by her real name,Entrepreneurship.
8. With the first business I get rich
It is a possibility, there is no denying it, but the one who expects that is not an entrepreneur, he would figure more as an opportunist or an adventurer and he may be successful in what he does, but it is not the entrepreneur's mindset.
Even when entrepreneurs are positive they are not delusional, pretending that at the first opportunity they will achieve wealth is like demanding that all wishes be fulfilled. Many people hope that at the first business attempt or the first business they will find the philosopher's stone or the golden egg, I am sorry to disappoint you, but it is not.
Reality is much more likely to test you before you achieve a more agile and effective business and business dynamic. There is always a beginning, we entrepreneurs understand that the process of doing ourselves is a long-term job, it is something that feeds on itself. It's called experience and learning, in other words, as you think businessmen always have another business for later.
Some businesses bring bigger and better ones, it is a reality of life and it is good that this is the case, which does not mean that this is directly related to age. You can achieve success being very young or very old, that does not matter, but the intensity with which you work and learn every day. In short, triumphalism is a double-edged sword, do not be disappointed if something does not go right the first time, it will be precisely because you are not yet ready for something greater, be aware that things are not easy and be prepared for failure, but always learn as much as you can from that experience and hopefully in your next venture it will be better for you and if you have not yet started your learning and someone comes up with a proposal "with this we become millionaires", first evaluate it and if you see that there is opportunity take it,but keep in mind that it may be, as it may not.
