Dear reader,

These are my opinions and not that of any organization I may belong to. I feel these myths inhibit the progress of entrepreneurs the world over.

I would encourage you( yes you reader) to consider these points and not simply cast them aside.

1. You can do it all by yourself:

Life is not a fairy tale and neither are you superman. In life you need a team of like minded individuals, who have the same goal, in order to make your business come to life. Yes its true that there are people who started alone, but they carried others along with them. You need others to propel you to greater heights. Everything is cool when you are part of a team.

2.The initial business idea will never change:

Lets face it. Plans change. Life is dynamic. The only constant thing about life is that nothing is constant. Your initial beliefs may no more hold true.

Pivots in ideas are not a bad thing, embrace it, because it’s only a fool who doesn’t change his mind. It’s a big lie to believe you can stay ahead with what you knew yesterday. Knowledge is doubling ever so often, especially with the internet at everyone’s tips. Information flows faster. Don’t be the only one left out. Take advantage of this information NOW.

3. The technology matters more than the business:

I also used to be so focused about the technology required to build products. So much so that I delayed the release of a project because I wanted the right fit. In the end what happens is that you over engineer a product that should actually be relatively simple. Don’t get me wrong, its good to have good tech, but the overarching factor should be does the business give any value( perceived or otherwise) to your clients. They matter the most, not your tech. Heck 9 times out of 10 they don’t even want to know the tech behind the business. It’s a painful lesson to learn, especially when you see other businesses with supposedly worse tech faring better financially than your business.

4. A better location would make my business better:

I live in Ghana, an emerging market. I hear some give such sentiments on radio. I also used to think the same. Thank God I’ve seen the light.

I will tell others this “Play the card you have been dealt”. Your unique position wherever you are has nicely positioned you to take advantage of opportunities that others in more advanced economies have passed on from. You can be the one who brings solutions that would improve their lives.

5. There’s no need to validate ideas, just start building:

Usually when building, you are doing it for your customer. It’s true you can be your own customer. If you are still adamant on building for yourself, then at least try and see if there are as many people who feel the same pains that you feel. Whichever way you go about it, you are still going to have to validate at some stage. You don’t need to have the perfect plan before you start. However a plan that is half as good won’t do you any harm. Don’t be pig headed. Take the path of least regret for your future self.

6. A successful business is one that brings in cash:

Money is not an indicator of success for all businesses. There may be several aims to starting that business. True monetary reward may be one but it is not the only one. Others could be a strategic alignment, for a bigger end game/reward. It could be more users. Awareness on a product. Could be several. However I won’t advice for money to be the sole motivator to start a business. It has to be greater than the bundles of cash you expect to roll in. Otherwise what happens is that when trials comes( and they 100% will ), you give up and pursue another line of work. The business life demands and needs more die hards and not scared kittens.

7. Good friends make good business partners:

This one one has 2 sides to the coin. For me, there are some friends, who are good business partners, and there have been some who have made terrible partners. If you have blind faith that the business venture will work out with your tight buddy, it still does not translate into turning the businesses around.

In the end you will want to ask yourself do you want to ruin your friendship and business, or do you want to save both by amicably agreeing to disagree and move on with life. I will pick the latter any day.

8. Start selling after you have built all possible features:

I respond by saying don’t build a spaceship, just start and gradually improve your product. What is happening is called feature creep. It’s happened to me too. I over engineered, and then wanted to add more features. Now it seemed like just another excuse I gave myself to delay launching my product. Who knows perhaps that 20th feature won’t even be used by the customer. People have limited time, thus they would aggravate to the most essential parts of your app. So focus on building those important parts like nobody’s business. And do it better than anyone else. We’ll build that 20th feature when enough people want it.

9. You need lots of cash to before you can start:

I used to think that too, before I heard the word bootstrap. It’s true that some businesses are heavy cash dependent, however if that’s your goal you can start from somewhere. If you can build the product, do it. If you can’t build, then offer a developer equity to do it. Do whatever is necessary to realize your dream. In the end realize that no one is going to help you realize it. Everyone else has dreams of their own.

10. Entrepreneurs take risks:

Nope I will re-edit this sentence to say “Entrepreneurs take calculated risks”. See I have introduced a new word calculated. It’s the same with everyone, your backers, your employees and you should do the same. Blind wholehearted faith in an idea would not make it succeed, especially when the odds are against you. I truly wish I could tell you differently, but hey I ain’t your fairy, so I’m gonna give it to you straight. Have a backup plan, ie a plan A to Z. That doesn’t mean you put no effort in what you are doing. Please do so with every ounce of strength. However do not blindly ignore the obvious truth to flaws in a business. I know its difficult to concede, but it’s much more stupid to ignore.

Anyways thats it for now. When I have anymore to share I will be sure to do so. Until then I hope the best for you in all your endeavours.

Best regards.