People are selling the idea of starting a venture in ‘a few simple steps’ but, if running a successful business were that easy, everyone would be a millionaire. The painful truth is that 8 out of 10 new businesses fail within the first two years – and if there’s anything that you can learn from the mistakes of unsuccessful entrepreneurs, it is the fact that you must prepare yourself for what lies ahead and enter the field with a realistic mindset. Here are the top 5 myths about starting an ecommerce business that you shouldn’t believe.
Failing to plan is planning to fail
Passion Alone Will Get you Through
It’s true that if you’re not passionate about what you do, you’re setting yourself up for failure – but passion is not the only measure of success – if it was, we would all be living our best lives, flying in private jets and driving sports cars. Everyone starts their business with a great idea, something that they care deeply about and the ultimate goal of all entrepreneurs is to achieve success – in whichever way they perceive it.
But if passion is the start point and success the end point of your business, there are a million and ten other factors in between that become a roadmap for reaching the finishing line. Ramit Sethi, a bestselling author and entrepreneur, says that the success of a business depends on the system that it uses to meet its strategic goals.
You don’t need $$$ to get started
Unless you’re some sort of a miracle worker who knows how to develop and design a website and make your own logo, you will probably need professional help with setting up your business. Whether you’re creating a website from scratch or using an ecommerce software like Shopify to host your website, you will require capital for getting your online store off the ground.
A professionally-designed website and logo is only 10% of the work that needs to go into your business; product inventory, taxes, licensing and marketing expenses are only a few of the things that you’ll need to spend money on. You may also need an emergency fund to act as a financial buffer in case you need to give up your full-time job to support your business (see next point).
You don’t need to give up your full-time job
Running a business – no matter how big or small – requires a lot of time and effort
Starting an online business will require a lot of planning, researching and doing which leaves very little time for anything else – including your well-paying full-time job that you’ve worked for so many years. This is not to discourage you from becoming an entrepreneur but to actually paint a realistic picture of the obstacles that lay ahead of you.
So, unless you own a time-turner like Hermione Granger that lets you be in two different places at once, you must realize that a time will come when you will need to quit your job and give all the attention to the new venture – and it will all be worth it in the end.
Once your business takes off, you can start living your dream life
One of the biggest motivations for people to start their own business is to escape the daily nine-to-five grind in pursuit of freedom to travel – after all, all successful entrepreneurs are globetrotters, right? Wrong. With the success of a business comes the potential of growth, and when you’re busy helping your business grow, there’s hardly any time for vacations or traveling. You’re the captain of this ship that you’ve built, and if you take your hands off the wheel, it may sink.
But being a business owner isn’t ‘all work and no play’; you’ll eventually get to travel and take time off once you’ve developed a stable business system and have other hands on deck to steer the ship even in absence.
Social media is enough for successful marketing
Effective social media marketing may be more costly that you think
Social media is the most effective platform for reaching your target market without breaking the bank but, it will make up for only a small part of your marketing strategy. If you rely solely on social media marketing strategy, you may never be able to scale your business to its full potential.
Eventually, you will need to invest a lot of time and money in other paid advertisement campaigns and hire professional marketing agencies to reap the fruit of your labor.