THE 5 BUSINESS MYTHS

Well, I know how enthusiastic you are concerning this new startup . I can even feel the energy. You have received all the accolades for your efforts. Yet far too soon, most of us fall into what I have titled the 5 Business Myths.

What is a Myth? A myth is a person or thing existing only in imagination, or whose actual existence is not verified. Oh, yes something that has not been verified. That is exactly the trap we most often fall into, believing things that doesn’t have any actual verification but someway somehow we have bought into them. Now lets unveil the 5 Myths.

1. You have to know it all.

What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly. – Laozi

This is very tricky, the edge of trying to know it all. A variation of this is when a person or entrepreneur waste time all in the name of learning more. You cannot literally know everything about anything. If you have to start a business, you might as well begin because no matter what you do there will still be stuffs you would not know. You cannot have all the information over a thing at your foot at any given time. We live in a global world ruled by technology, what was right yesterday might not necessarily be same today or tomorrow. Things are changing at the speed of light.

Scientific facts has been rewritten by newer ones from time to time. So if you are putting off starting your business all in the name of trying to know everything about the business you want to get into , you might as well never really begin. And that’s for sure.
You cannot know everything. STAND UP and begin. All the lights will not turn GREEN just for you to pass through, the earlier you embrace this truth the better it is for you. Paulo Coelho said: Life was always a matter of waiting for the right moment to act. There are many things that needs attention other than knowledge.

Stop waiting to know it all, JUST DO IT. In business, some people find it difficult to effect changes all in the name of this very myth.
They will keep on procrastinating and giving excuses all because they feel they have to know it all. Most of the inventions we enjoy today have been revised and updated ever since they came into existence. The inventors did not wait till they had all the information right, they acted. So whether it is a new thing that you have to incorporate into your business or starting from scratch, you have to take action. Wanting to know it all will actually make you become indecisive and that is very fatal.

2. I can do it all alone.

None can destroy iron, but its own rust can! Likewise none can destroy a person,
but its own mindset can! – Ratan Tata.

As a matter of fact, if you really want to make something worthwhile in this life you have to think differently. If you have to achieve success in any form in your life, you will need other peoples skills and talents. Bill Gates or Steve Jobs never made it alone, they used the skills and expertise of others to their advantage. Nothing is more suicidal than this single thought. No one is an island, we all need the help and support we can get to put our business into place.

The person who tries to go or do it all alone is surely heading for self destruction. You need to team up with others in relation to certain parts of your business if you want to succeed. Success is not a one man show game. You need collective efforts. You can network, build a team or partner with others to enable you gain or have some skills which you may not have in yourself or your business. Imagine if you want to take upon yourself the work of your lawyer, what a nightmare that will be.

At FalconXDesign, we team up with models, markup artists, rental companies, just to name a few. This gives us more space to work with since we do not currently offer these services but may have clients who will need them. You need other peoples skills and efforts. As a matter of fact, the most successful people in business are the ones who have mastered the art of using other peoples skill and time to their advantage. Trying to do it all alone exposes you to great danger and
your resources will also be limited as a result of this. Do yourself a favor and quit trying to be the Lone Ranger in business.

3. If my product is good enough people will troop to my doorstep.

Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. – George Bernard Shaw.

Well technically, it does makes sense to produce quality products or offer quality services. Yet the truth of the matter is QUALITY alone is not good enough. There are billions of quality products out there which you and I have never heard off. Millions of products never made it off the shelves, yet they have much quality in them. There are companies who once had produced quality products and yet they are out of business.

It is not just a matter of one ingredient. There are other things that needs to be added to the equation,
having a quality product does not guarantee success in business. Ask yourself, is Coca Cola the best drink out there?
Obviously no, but they have other things added to the equation which makes their brand standout. Find something unique about your brand and add it to your product or services because counting only on the quality of your product would not necessarily mean you will win in the end.

The other side of this fatal thinking is outlined in no. 5. Millions of products get into the market everyday, just saying you have the best product is more of a joke. Every other competitor out there will say the same. Do you really think if I were to walk over to your competitor and ask him/her of their product quality they would literally say yours is better than theirs? Hell no!

Everyone believes in their product as being of the best quality. So if quality is all one needs to succeed in business, then why are lots of startups disappearing? The answer is pretty simple, quality alone is not enough and customers will not basically walk over your doorstep all because you claim to have the best quality product. PERIOD!!!

4. I have arrived.

I don’t dwell on success. Maybe that’s one reason I’m successful. – Calvin Klein.

This very myth is tricky enough. The tendency to think we have arrived when all seems to be going on well. Some business achieve early success while others do not. And its very likely in most cases to think you have done it all or know it all at moments when everything seems to be going on well. Early start does not guarantee long run success.

There are many faces and turns in business. You have to always keep your guard up. A shallow thinking or silly mistake can prove very costly. In every area of business, there are sharks swimming in the waters, STAY ALERT. The moment we think we have arrived, we stop doing the things that made us successful and we begin to overlook vital things that have the potential of bringing about more success.

The last thing you want to do is to take your eyes of the road and your hands off the wheel. Do not ever fall prey to this. Many businesses have collapsed or filled for bankruptcy all because at some point in time, the owners thought they had arrived and neglected key decisions which made them successful in the first place. Always keep WATCH.

Imagine running a race, and upon seeing you are a couple of meters away from the finish line you begin
to celebrate. Then the unexpected happened, someone bypassed you right on the line. How will you
feel? I might jump into a river….lol. That is exactly what happens when we celebrate too early all because we think
we have arrived. There are lots of turns in business that can even surprise seasoned entrepreneurs. Do you know of the company  Kodak, where are they now?

5. I will win if I have the lowest price.

As long as we persevere and endure, we can get anything we want. – Mike Tyson.

This actuallys sounds promising. Let me ask you, does an Apple product cost lesser than Tecno or Infinix? Yet, Apple has a strong customer base. Success in business is not just about doing one thing right. If doing only one thing will garantee success
in business, we will all be looking out for that very thing so we all get off the ground and soar.

Low prices ‘does’ seems to work with comodities. And yes, you can actually win some customers with that approach. If the only reason why a customer does business with you is becuase you have lower prices then you are in for a big fight. You sure to loose that customer if your competitor offers a much lower price than yours. So as a matter of fact, holding on to lower prices in business is not a safe way to do business.

And another funny part(irony), customers also does seem to attach poor quality with lower prices. So get your facts right when choosing lower price as a strategy for your business. In the game of prices, the lowest always win. Have a moderate price for your products/services and do not go below the line all in the name of trying to win customers with it because you will often loose to a competitor who will offer something lower than yours.

In spite of everything life is not without hope – Marilyn Monroe.

You can win in business if only you do the things necessary to push you to that level.
And don’t forget, what was right yesterday in business would not necessarily be right today.
The world of business is evolving at a fast pace.

Thank you.