Decoding the Top 5 Entrepreneurial Myths Take off the coloured lens to see the world clearly; so you can build your own path, follow your own dream, and be the CEO of your own life

Ask a young student "the dream', and chances are it's "to be the next Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos'. Ask someone entering the corporate jungle, "where would you see yourself in five years?' and the answer you would likely get is "running my own ship'. Ask someone mid-career and they'd confide "kicking the damn job and starting my own thing'.

Entrepreneurship has come to be one of the most desirable career choices. There seems to have been a paradigm shift in mindset in the last couple of decades. Entrepreneurship today has attained the "cool' factor, is considered "trendy' and sports an almost "celebrity' like an endorsement to it.

If you are considering a start or a change to this path in life, it will be worth your time to read on, as we bust The Top 5 Myths.

Myth 1: I am my own Boss

This is hands down the biggest myth about being an Entrepreneur. In fact, many of us state this as the biggest reason for wanting to become an entrepreneur.

The truth is dramatically the opposite. In corporate life, we label someone we are answerable to as the "boss'. By that definition, an entrepreneur, if anything is answerable to many more people - employees, partners, buyers, customers, investors, board members, any & everyone who comes into contact with the company or its product/services.

Bottom Line:

Ownership comes with responsibility; where you are responsible, you are answerable. Focus on empowering yourself; dream bigger, plan better, take bolder decisions and you will automatically gain respect.

Myth 2: I'm Going to be Rich!

There are two issues here. One, there are many roads to becoming rich; setting up your own venture, being one of them. Two, the chances of a start-up succeeding are at best 9:1.

Success (and financial gain) is about playing the game right rather than picking the right card out of a deck of cards. A successful corporate career or a creative/new age career too has a fair shot at landing in the gold pot.

Bottom Line:

If getting rich is the aim, then first find your sweet spot and play to win. Entrepreneurship may or may not be your best choice.

Myth 3: My lifestyle will be as Flexi as a rubber band

Taking off on beach vacations whenever you fancy, brainstorming the next big idea in snazzy cool offices and working 4-hour days - this is the celeb lifestyle we have come to associate with new-age entrepreneurs. This rockstar picture is far from reality. A normal work week usually consists of 7 days, no weekends, sleepless nights, hectic days, juggling between wearing hats from a CEO to an Errand Boy!

Bottom Line:

It surely does offer you some flexibility, but be clear that it comes along with a whole lot of additional pressures. It's a flexible rubber-band for sure, but can very well snap and hurt the hell out of you!

Myth 4: It's my ticket to freedom

So you hate your job. You think your boss is a jerk. You feel you're stuck in this organisation. You can't see your growth path. In all, life sucks. And so you come to the conclusion, you need a chance - to break free, from the so-called shackles of the 9 to 5 drill.

Bottom Line:

Everything sucks, some of the time! You're probably just in the wrong field, or in the wrong role, or in the wrong place. Don't choose entrepreneurship because you're in the wrong job; first, figure out what the "right' role for you is.

Myth 5: I Was Born to do Something Big

Most of us go through an existential crisis at some point of time in life, often culminating into what we call a mid-life crisis. As kids we often dream of being a superhero or superstar; correspondingly, once older, it gets replaced by other "exciting' options such as entrepreneurship.

Bottom Line:

The answer to our existential crisis is not in picking up what seems exciting but what is "right' for us. There are many roads to success and making it big in this world; entrepreneurship being one of them. Find your path first; define what success means to you; then work on making it big.

Way Forward:

Is Entrepreneurship right for me? Now that we have busted the Top Myths, and removed the coloured lens from our eyes, its time to reflect on the Right Reasons to become an Entrepreneur; hope to re-connect on that with you soon…