If you have been called to entrepreneurship, maybe you can relate to this:

 
I used to have this little voice inside me whispering about becoming an entrepreneur, and I was scared to admit it.

But you know what? I took that leap. My whole career transformed, countless doors and possibilities opened up. Now I see myself dreaming bigger and consequently, aiming higher than I ever thought possible.

Embracing that little voice and taking the plunge into entrepreneurship changed my life.

Because it’s been so profound in my work experience and is such a huge consideration for people looking to quit their job, I host a call dedicated solely to entrepreneurship, once a month, in the Quitter Club. We talk through things like your niche, your marketing, your business model, how much you’d have to make to quit your job, what your goal is, how you get started, and what steps you start on. It’s one of my favorite topics. Seriously, I love talking about entrepreneurship. People love this call because entrepreneurship can be kind of lonesome. It’s often the road less traveled for so many of us.

And while entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone; I do want to separate the truth from what are flat out lies about entrepreneurship that float around online.
 

Truth: Anyone Can Be an Entrepreneur

 
Entrepreneurship is NOT only for a special few. The truth is, anyone can be an entrepreneur if they have the desire and willingness to try. I don’t think everybody wants to, and I’m not saying it’s the best thing for everybody, but I truly believe that if you wanted to, you could run a business. If you are determined to make your way and motivated to find your groove, you’d be surprised at just how capable you are. I wholeheartedly believe that.

I constantly see people stay stuck in careers they don’t want to be in because they think they aren’t good enough, smart enough, whatever the enoughness is, to have a business. They have imposter syndrome. Or they tell themselves, I wouldn’t know how to do that.

On the flip side, I meet all of these entrepreneurs that are running incredible, growing businesses and there’s nothing special about them. It’s just that they are willing to try. They’re willing to fail at it, they were willing to learn. That’s it. The separation between you and them comes down to just having the audacity to try it, to learn it.

Truth: There are Different Types of Entrepreneurs

There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Some may be risk-takers and visionaries. Others may be more risk-averse and detail-oriented. Don’t sell yourself short because you don’t size up to your moguls. That just makes you more variable to your market. The key is to identify your strengths and weaknesses and find a way to use them to your advantage.

The beauty of being your own boss is that there is no right or wrong way to be an entrepreneur. I want you to really get out of the mindset that entrepreneurship is for some people and it’s not for others. For example, I’m a risk averse person. I like being told what to do. Believe me, I was the best employee and I’ve still made it as an entrepreneur.

Truth: Flexibility Requires Mind Management

Entrepreneurship can offer flexibility, but it’s not an automatic privilege. Managing your mindset has been proven to be crucial in maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

One of the reasons I wanted to go into entrepreneurship was because I wanted that flexibility. But a lot of us bring that employee mindset into entrepreneurship and we unintentionally build our own prisons. We build another job for ourselves, only worse. Instead of having one boss, all of your clients are the boss. The illusion of constant flexibility can quickly lead to overworking and burnout.

So while you do have the flexibility of how and when you show up for your business, learning to set boundaries and prioritize tasks effectively is essential for achieving true flexibility in your entrepreneurial journey.

Truth: Success Requires Time and Patience

Building a successful business takes time and patience. It’s common to see portrayals of rapid success on social media. The reality is that most successful entrepreneurs have faced failures and setbacks along the way.

Creating a business from zero to $50,000-$100,000 requires some hustle, maybe a hard lesson, and time. It requires you to get everything set up. It might even require you to work more hours than you want to. That doesn’t mean it will be like this, all the time. Embrace the process, learn from your experiences, and keep your eyes on the long-term vision.

Lie: Passive Income Is Possible

The concept of passive income is often hyped up, but true passive income is not as common as it seems. Even if you create a product or system that seems passive, maintaining and marketing it will require ongoing effort.

I’ve now been in entrepreneurship for over five years. I’ve seen every type of business and I have not seen a single person that actually has a passive income. Even if you’re running ads to your product in a sales funnel, someone has to keep their eye on the ad. You have to understand and look at the metrics all the time. Maybe change up the creative with regularity. You have to constantly be involved. Don’t fall for any marketing that is selling you otherwise. It’s essential to recognize that most successful entrepreneurs put in consistent work to sustain their income streams.

Lie: Quick Success is Likely

The belief that you should achieve massive success within a short period is a misleading notion. Entrepreneurship is a journey of learning and refining your strategies.

I don’t think we realize that we’re thinking this, but a lot of entrepreneurs and myself included, have this false belief that success should be quick. We get sold this lie that you can make six figures in six months. I have very rarely, I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone with zero experience in entrepreneurship set up a business and then make multiple six figures in the first year.

Why? Because you have to learn about entrepreneurship and you have to learn about marketing, and sales, and product delivery, and the technology behind it, and the customer journey, and all these other things. And that takes time and that’s okay.

There’s nothing wrong with taking time to figure things out and make adjustments along the way. Don’t be disheartened by the lack of instant success; it’s part of the process.

Lie: Expertise is a Prerequisite

You don’t need to be an industry expert or hold a specific degree to start a business. Entrepreneurship is about finding solutions to problems and offering value to others. As long as you have knowledge or experience that can help someone else, you have the potential to create a business around it.

I think we’ve all been so indoctrinated in a culture of school and degrees, that we believe we have to have a degree in order to sell anything or in order to call yourself an expert. Most of you likely do have expertise that you could sell. All you need to in order to create a business is to be a couple of steps ahead of people. That’s it. And all of us are a couple of steps ahead in something, right?

So often we tend to help the people that were like us a couple steps ago. It was the thing that you needed the help with most, right? Start brainstorming and figuring out:

What if I helped a small group of people do this?

What if I served the community of the hobby I love?

It can really start giving you some ideas of what businesses you can start. Nobody’s saying you have to start it; just give yourself space to explore it.

Entrepreneurship is a path full of opportunities and challenges.

It’s essential to separate the truths from the lies to make informed decisions. If you’ve been hearing that little voice nudging you towards starting your own business but feel uncertain about where to begin, don’t worry. You don’t have to navigate this path alone. Join the Quitter Club and dip your toes into those entrepreneurship waters.