Common Business Myths
8/1/05, Part 2

The list of myths continues...

By: Matt Michel


For the most part, myth making is simply part of human nature. However, some myths are dangerous. They keep us from seeing the world as it actually is or they keep us from venturing into the unknown and unfamiliar, from trying the new, from stretching and growing. Following, in no particular order, are a few of the small business myths that hold companies back.


5. The Myth of the Easy Score
Late night television is chalk full of infomercials promising the easy path to riches. Come on. A high school drop out house painter figures out the secret to making millions in real estate and now has nothing better to do than sit in Maui and pay for 30 minute blocks of time on late night television to push his cassette tapes? In truth, there is no easy score, at least no repetitive easy score. There is only hard work and bulldog determination.

The myth of the easy score is perpetuated by a government that pushes the lottery (a regressive intelligence tax if there ever was one) and TV lawyers promising quick riches if anything bad happens to you. Sure someone wins the lottery, but it’s not a zero-sum game.

Divide the payoff by the number of lottery tickets sold and the value of each ticket is around 50 cents. Let the trial lawyers sue every deep pocket in sight and the trial lawyers get rich while all of us pay for it in higher prices, expensive insurance, and unnecessary defensive warnings and procedures.

It plays out in small business when a business owner sees a new line or new service offering as a quick way to pump money to the bottom line. Most find out that the business addition is much harder to make profitable than it seemed. While they’re devoting themselves to the new venture, they’re neglecting the cash cow, causing their overall business to suffer. There is no easy score. There is only hard work and focus.

6. The Myth of the Greedy Entrepreneur
Many entrepreneurs act like every nickel they spend is paid for with their blood. Well, it is. Entrepreneurs put it all on the line, risking everything they own. They spend countless hours building their businesses. Until their business makes it, they earn less than they could working for someone else. For every gazillionaire entrepreneur, there are a gazillion entrepreneurs struggling to survive. Entrepreneurs aren’t greedy, they’re working their tails off.

7. The Myth of Business Secrets
Other than the formula for Coca-cola, there are no business secrets and I expect that a good chemist could reverse engineer Coke if he tried hard enough. Small business owners worry about their trade secrets. They hesitate to share or trade ideas because a “competitor” might steal something from them.

In truth, the competitor could figure it out on his own or discover it from a supplier or some other source. Competitive advantage comes from execution, not some mysterious set of business secrets because there are no secrets.

8. The Myth of Limited Choices
People often say, “I’ve got no choice…” Wrong. There’s always a choice and probably more than one if you think about it hard enough. If you think your choice is limited, you aren’t thinking hard enough. There are always choices.




Next, Part 3: The list concludes.


Source: Comanche Marketing. Reprinted by permission.
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Copyright © 2004 Matt Michel