6 Common Myths About Starting a New Business You Need To Drop Today

Starting a new business is fraught with challenges, and none of us has the bandwidth to attack them all.

As an advisor to business owners, and an occasional angel investor, my job is to separate the actual challenges from the common misconceptions that distract many promising entrepreneurs while building the leadership team required for your solution, marketing, and finance success.

I remember first seeing a good summary of these risk-reduction myths a while back in a classic book, How to Start a Business and Ignite Your Life, by Ernesto Sirolli, PhD.

With his wealth of business experience and expertise as a top economic development consultant, he confirms my own view that the top five myths in starting a new business commonly include the following:

1. You have to be able to do every job in your business.

In reality, it is important to know the basics of all roles, but it's counterproductive to try to be an expert or attempt to micro-manage every task.

It is more important to find and nurture team members who have the right expertise, and have them respect and appreciate their work, as well as yours.

For example, if you start a new business with a software product you developed, you really need to know the basics of marketing and finance, but you will probably never be the expert in marketing and finance you require. Partner with experts who share the risk.

2. Business success is all about having a winning idea.

In my experience, finding a good idea is the easy part. It's the execution that's hard.

I have seen too many great ideas fail due to poor execution, and less impressive ideas succeed due to an innovative business plan, implemented and managed by the right team of entrepreneurs.

Witness the number of seemingly simple or stupid ideas that have become million dollar businesses, thanks to some creative marketing or innovative financials.

Witness the number of seemingly simple or stupid ideas that have become million dollar businesses, thanks to some creative marketing or innovative financials.

Of course, if you have a great idea and a great execution, your company may well be the next