There are some entrepreneurial myths that people still hold on to that need to be demystified for progress sake, especially in Africa. For one to be aware of these myths and the way forward, one should have an idea of what entrepreneurship is all about and know who an entrepreneur is?
The myths about entrepreneurship are generated from a worldview which perceives entrepreneurs as wannabes without any track record, and some of these myths include; an entrepreneur is a gambler, an inventor, a rigid high profiler, non-futuristic when money is concerned among others, but one might ask are these myths true hence there is need to be demystified.
Most millionaires are self-made and are the result of a sustained effort to arrive at their destinations, and the essential principle is that one should be the person that they want to be, and all this emanates from one’s vision and passion which should be one’s strategic focus. Taking a closer analysis of some of the myths mentioned above, entrepreneurs have to go out of their way to prove to the world that they can and are for real.
Changing worldviews concerning a particular perception might be a lifelong challenge. Still, one cannot take away anything from a suitable substance, for instance, milk does not require seasoning, but it is an excellent substance. Against all the odds, entrepreneurs need to demonstrate that they are indeed people of integrity and can demonstrate their capabilities to the maximum.
Nevertheless, the entrepreneurial stories of success are inspirational. Still, aspiring entrepreneurs need to understand that before they decide to take that entrepreneurial way, launching a startup begins and ends with the person who is leading the business. Those outsized success stories can be dangerous, leading one to believe that there’s only one way to success and that failure is never inevitable, yet entrepreneurship is but a wild ride.
Concerning the myths about entrepreneurship Scott Shane, a professor of entrepreneurial studies once said,
“we have a belief that entrepreneurship is good because it’s associated with things that we like to believe about: Being independent, doing your own thing and going your own way.
“The other part of it is that paradoxically one really, really good thing about entrepreneurship that people don’t talk about, which is dominant and we have lots of evidence to support: People who run their own businesses have greater job satisfaction than people who don’t.
I think part of it is that we’re trying to make sense of this paradox – that we like it, but financially it isn’t so great. So we create a myth that says because we like it and it makes us happy, it must also make financial sense because otherwise there’s a kind of conflict we can’t resolve.”
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