Never Get a ”Real„ Job by Scott Gerber Read Free Book Online Page B

burned was because we became victims of our own belief in several start-up myths, entrepreneurial misconceptions, and business falsehoods.
     
    I hope you’re fortunate enough not to experience the same level of failure that I experienced with my first venture. However, you can benefit from my experience by avoiding these pitfalls on your entrepreneurial journey.
     
    YOUR BUSINESS IS NOT THE EXCEPTION TO ANY RULE
     
    I know how excited you are about your business idea. You can’t wait to move mountains and become a captain of industry. I have no doubt you truly believe that your concept is a guaranteed winner. However, in reality, your idea is but a small part of the success equation. Besides, most people think they have a winner and the odds apply to you just as much as the next guy. According to the U.S. Small Business Association one-third of small businesses fail by their second year and less than half make it to four years.
     
    Giving status quo the finger isn’t easy and launching a business isn’t a cakewalk. It’s great to be passionate about your idea, but get it out of your head that your business is an exception to any rule.
     
    It’s not going to be easy. Deal with it . Don’t become an entrepreneur if you’re looking for an easy way to make a living. Running a start-up will push you to the limits; it’s not glamorous and can stress out the calmest of individuals. You may even find yourself wanting to quit three or four times in the first two months and hundreds of times during the first six months—if you make it that long.
     
    It is much harder to be your own boss than to have one. You can’t expect a check to magically appear in your mailbox simply because you pasted a number on your vision board. Sure, if you’re employed or have ever been employed, your boss might not know that he’s paying you 10 hours each week to watch cat videos on YouTube and update your Facebook status, but in a start-up every moment you waste is a moment closer to bankruptcy.
     
    You’re going to fail often. Accept it. For the first time in your life, you will have to truly work your ass off to earn every dollar in your pocket and you will have to work harder than you’ve ever worked before. In the earliest stages of your business, you’ll have to downgrade your lifestyle to absolute bare necessities and make your business your priority—milking it for every dollar of revenue it can provide.
     
    Contrary to popular belief, failure is not such a bad thing. Hard-learned lessons from failures will guide you to successes, where you will reap the financial rewards for your own work. Your life might get harder before it gets easier, but if you want to win big at the risk-reward game now is the time to put the mission before the man—when you’re young, hungry, and contain insurmountable amounts of energy.
     
    Take your perfect plan and shove it . The right hypothetical team plus hip Google AdWords plus a funky sales presentation may sound like a winning combination on paper, but in reality, you know what it will most likely amount to?
     
    Nada.
     
    There is no magic start-up formula for you in a “Six Minute Start-Up” DVD. And the road less traveled is likely to lead you straight off a cliff.
     
    Any successful entrepreneur will tell you that you can’t predict future sales, revenues, and market acceptance for a start-up. It’s simply impossible. Anyone who tells you otherwise doesn’t know his or her ass from an elbow. Other than what you do and how you do it, you don’t know as much as you think you know about your business or industry. Any idiot can write a business plan that paints a rosy picture about a hypothetical company. Truth be told, there is no such thing as the perfect plan.
     
    Your product or service won’t gain attention in the cluttered marketplace just because you plan everything to the letter. Don’t be sucked into fictitious numbers and creating a business plan any longer than a