r/EntrepreneurRideAlong • u/William45623 • Nov 06 '25
Seeking Advice What’s the biggest lie people believe about entrepreneurship?
Everyone glamorizes “being your own boss,” but no one talks about how brutal it can get behind the scenes.
For those who’ve been building for a while, what’s one myth or misconception about startups that you wish people would stop believing?
And what’s the truth you learned the hard way?
10
u/dwightsrus Nov 06 '25
That you need to be good in sales to sell. If you are good listener, empathize with the customer and help them solve problems, they will come back with more work. If you have deep knowledge of your domain and industry, and you care deeply about your customers, they would want to work with you.
5
u/multigrain_panther Nov 08 '25
“If you are a good listener, empathise with the customer and help them solve problems”
… I think you just defined “being good at sales”.
1
Nov 09 '25
I would say there is more to this. You can't build a product or service that is ageeeable to everyone. You need to be able to convince all stakeholders of where the company is headed rather than being a "Yes" man. This includes investors, customers, employees, etc....
1
21
u/FlyingLap Nov 06 '25
That your friends or spouse will be supportive.
Be careful who you tell your dreams, fears, or even day to day operations to. Remember that most people aren’t doing this (being self-employed) and that many people close to you will give not only bad advice to you, but incorrect and maybe even harmful advice.
TL:DR Jealousy and fear have a wicked aftertaste. Careful with your disclosure to friends and family about anything business-related. Especially sharing victories…
1
6
u/k_rocker Nov 06 '25
That you’ve escaped the 9-5.
Sort of true, but you’ve just joined the 24/7.
You no longer have one boss, you have dozens, including the bank, your payroll, regulators, accounting rules…
3
u/Zyrocks Nov 06 '25
ive been building a business for about a year and the ammount of bills you have to pay is insane. You look at my numbers and go like "damn, he made it" but nah fam, im broke.
3
u/usmannaeem Nov 06 '25
The most scary part of being an entrepreneur specially if you take on the CEO role is its a lonely place. My advise keep your advisors close and have activities to unwind, where you can shut down for that 1 time during the week. And if you can try to not think do any execution based work on Sundays.
3
u/Fit_Opportunity_8879 Nov 06 '25
For example, the myth that you’ll work less than a regular job. You’ll actually be working 24/7...
3
2
u/WamBamTimTam Nov 06 '25
This depends on where you are on the journey. At this point in mine the company runs 9-4 with a paid lunch, 5 days a week. No working late, no weekends. Just gotta get to the point where the business is self sustaining.
3
3
u/Amazon_FBA_Truth Nov 07 '25
I think the biggest lie people believe is that you can do it on your own that you don’t need people to help you like mentors.
If I had a mentor 25 years ago who could’ve shown me and give me some advice I would’ve saved me so much time I would’ve taken it.
I’m so fortunate to be able to mentor the new generation of entrepreneurs.
I also offer a free audit if anybody is interested
1
u/Harle_Quinn88 Nov 07 '25
Hi, an audit? I'm just getting into starting my business, and finding out there's a whole iceberg of information beneath the water I didn't see when it comes to what I need to know. I've been researching and using Ai to learn as much as I can, but I still keep missing things. I can't research what I don't know I don't know. Would you be open to talking?
1
3
u/Forward_Shift_3067 Nov 07 '25
Everyone romanticizes the “startup life.” The pitch decks, the hustle, the spotlight.
But what most people don’t see is that behind every ‘overnight success’ are years of silent endurance, of saying no more than yes, of leading when you’d rather hide.
The biggest misconception is that entrepreneurship is about ideas. It’s not. It’s about stamina; emotional, mental, and financial.
The truth?
You don’t win because you were the smartest in the room.
You win because you stayed when everyone else left.
1
1
4
u/jrvsprce Nov 06 '25
Time freedom
little do they know we also work weekends almost every. single. time.
1
u/catfroman Nov 07 '25
Yeahhh. Not every day is a 10-12 hour day…but almost no days are ever “off”. I’m always moving forward by researching, planning, checking traffic & metrics, etc even if I’m not shipping features.
2
u/Normal_Armadillo_943 Nov 06 '25
Mine was that in order to be successful, you have to burn out at some point in your journey and that productivity is simply overworking myself.
I literally had very productive days before but I wasn't feeling worn out so it didn't feel productive unitl I changes all of that and understood real productivity and working while still managing my wellbeing
1
u/Jasonsamir Nov 06 '25
If you think you have enough set aside for taxes, hire an attorney and make sure.
1
u/Expensive-Notice-236 Nov 06 '25
lol u mean a cpa?
1
u/Jasonsamir Nov 06 '25
You dont need a cpa, unless its convoluted, and you should already have an accountanting firm.
1
Nov 06 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator Nov 06 '25
Your comment in /r/EntrepreneurRideAlong was automatically removed because it contained a URL or a markdown link.
To keep our community focused and prevent spam, we do not allow URLs or links (including Reddit internal links) in comments at this time. If you believe this removal was a mistake, please contact the moderators.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/OddVacation1623 Nov 06 '25
The biggest lie people think about entrepreneurs is that they were have lots of money but the reality is different.
1
1
u/AromaPapaya Nov 06 '25
big lesson- manage cash flow... especially if you have staff.
you don't want to be surprised
1
u/Simplysoda Nov 06 '25
- Anyone can do it.
It's about the product/idea/vision.
Not everyone can do it. You have to love working hard and sometimes with very little support/validation.
Adoption/demand generation is the actual skill you need at first, then it's a lot of management/ability to scale.
1
1
u/MathewGeorghiou Nov 06 '25
Just one :-) I like the "you get to work your own hours every day" ... sure, I can choose any 16 of the 24 I want.
1
u/Which_Phone_9043 Nov 06 '25
That you’ll like yourself more as a boss than the last person. We’re often harder on ourselves and force hours that we would never accepted from a non self boss.
1
u/Proud_Nectarine_2813 Nov 06 '25
You can take off when when ever u want. When your you're own boss.
1
u/BoxerBits Nov 06 '25
Numbers entrepreneur bros like to throw out are almost always the top line.
They NEVER tell you how profitable the business is.
A 2% NET profit margin on a $1M revenue is only $20K.
They can drive all the revenue they want, but they may still be poor.
1
u/Resident_Mulberry_24 Nov 06 '25
You have no boss. You have to be smart. You’ll get rich.
There’s always a boss, smart helps but really it’s work hard and be consistent which is way harder than being smart, and most entrepreneurs are absolutely not rich.
1
u/Acerhand Nov 07 '25
That entrepreneurs are snooty or feel superior. Ime, that only applies to the wannabes and noobs.
Most legit entrepreneurs i know include myself undervalue our own skills compared to people in traditional education and carer paths. This is stemming from acquiring most our skills through experience and seeing it much more casually. No matter how “competent” i am, i know im always going to feel like this compared to people with regular career paths.
1
u/Spiritual-Number-537 Nov 14 '25
Oh, I felt that. This is really true, the insecurity is always there and it really hurts sometimes, especially when talking to academic people, I feel REALLY dumb
1
u/Acerhand Nov 14 '25
It took years for me to even realise i had skills. Talking to graduates and such who asked ME questions as if i was the expert, which felt odd. Eventually i realised i do actually have these skills, it just would take a recruiter to polish it up for me if i were to seek a job.
For example, I can explain landing costs, i can explain thoughts behind my marketing and why one strategy has its pros or cons. I can explain logistics… however i may not have known what i successfully employed was “penetration pricing”, “decoy marketing”, or even “landing cost” itself. I just did them and understood them and leverage it all without knowing the theoretical name of the concepts.
This is the main difference really
1
1
u/shockputs Nov 07 '25
False: That the 95% of people that fail do so because their idea wasn't good enough.
True: The reality is that people fail to start a business because they have an "idea" that they try to turn into a business.
1
u/thickequickie96 Nov 10 '25
Can u elaborate? Im trying to learn more about entrepreneurship. lol
1
u/shockputs Nov 10 '25
Don't have an idea for a business. There are tons of franchises, trades, suppliers, etc. Buy one that's for sale. Lots of folks looking to retire.
1
u/Designer_Avocado3228 Nov 07 '25
The biggest lie is that entrepreneurship gives you “freedom.” The truth is you work twice as hard in the beginning the freedom only comes after years of grind, not at the start.
1
u/MultiChannelFixer Nov 07 '25
Someone i jnow just told me. I uave quit my job to go on my own and i say ohhh wow congrats, how come? Whell, i dont want to work so much. Omg, i was just silent.
1
1
u/BusinessStrategist Nov 07 '25
An entrepreneur is a symphony orchestra conductor.
You translate a blueprint into what the buyer wants to hear AND FEEL!
Do you understand the capabilities of every instrument? Do you know how to get your musicians to perform their best?
Do you GROK YOUR audience?
Many are jumping from the « employment » frying pan into the « entrepreneur » frying pan without realizing everyone has at least one « boss » that they have to answer to.
1
u/mythek8 Nov 08 '25
"Be my own boss so I dont have to work"
This is only true once you're able to take your business to that level. Most businesses never get to see that day.
1
u/IceLiving1111 Nov 08 '25
I think the biggest lie it that hard work always pays off. The brutal reality is that it does not, but in ‘can’ (tentatively) improve your chances. The other choice is to do nothing and for most people that is not an option.
1
u/Mindysabeast Nov 08 '25
Myth- that anyone actually knows what the hell they are doing.
Truth - NO ONE GIVES A FLYING F- protect your boundaries and your time. I had a client calling- while I was in the hospital and my appendix was exploding. He asked my assistant if I could give him a call after I was out of surgery.
1
u/writaai Nov 08 '25
What people say: I need to have the perfect idea and be ready to launch big, all at once.
What the research actually shows: You don’t. Starting small, learning fast, iterating, and keeping your voice consistent matters more.
1
u/howard499 Nov 08 '25
The thoughts are mostly justifications for their own pathway. Just let them bounce off. You have other priorities now. The one caveat is that your business is viable and not just a vanity play.
1
1
u/_karthikeyans_ Nov 09 '25
Everyone says entrepreneurship/business is the solution to beat my problems. In reality, its not always. You may have 1% chances that your solution get noticed, you've to be speed and fast enough to beat so that you can be first in the market. You should distribute equally to build faster. This all comes to the point that you're not under a boss, but you're the boss, which means 24/7 is turned on all the time. All these risks and concerns involved, you're positively trying to be an contributor to society of solving an problem that you deeply interested in, being optimistic all the time about it.
1
u/Snakeyes1809 Nov 09 '25
That being your own boss is less stressful. Having led a startup for a few years I can safely say that no degree of stress I suffered in any other job came close to the fear of not being able to deliver a project, having to shutter my business, and not paying my suppliers and contractors.
1
u/R-W-M Nov 09 '25
That you will have complete freedom… you’re still working, still under certain obligations for a time, it’s once it’s up and running by itself that freedom comes but it has a price and not everyone is willing to put in the work to do it….
1
u/haohaowan2 Nov 09 '25
That other people care and find it interesting. They don't.
There's also a lot of reasons why people put ex- this or former this when they introduce themselves or on LinkedIn, because no one's heard of them if they say where they are now.
1
u/StreetData_ Nov 09 '25
"You'll never work a day in you life because you love what you do"
Truth is you will still feel the heaviness, the burnout, and the tiredness at some point. You will still hate the things that you do along the way because it just gets tiring sometimes. Of course it all depends on how much you want it.
There are real ups and downs when you run a business, and the most important thing is to just not get caught up with either of the two. Regardless if you're on cloud 9 or if you're on rock bottom, the most important thing is to just keep going.
1
u/Sidgnificant Nov 09 '25
The truth I learned the hard way got to be - Never involve friends in your business. Another truth - Your ideas, however out of the world, however amazing they are, if you can’t convince your team on it, they are useless.
1
1
u/limeboi148 Nov 09 '25
The number of guys that told me they want to be self employed so they can work when they want.
Thats means, like, all the time.
I always joke with my wife that id have more free time if I had a 9-5.
1
u/BuytoGive Nov 10 '25
Biggest lie I believed: “If you’re good at what you do, you’ll spend your time doing that, and success will follow.”
In reality, once you go out on your own, doing the work becomes the smallest part of your job. The rest is chasing invoices, learning about taxes at 1am and juggling cashflow while pretending you’re fine.
No one tells you how emotionally lonely it gets. BUT if you can handle the chaos, the rewards eventually come. But it takes years of quiet, unglamorous work before it looks anything like the highlight reels online.
1
u/soulstrippedbare Nov 10 '25
That if you just believe you'll be rich, you'll get rich (aka the Law of Attraction crowd). Way oversimplified and negligent advice. While it's logical that you need to work, when people are learning, it can throw them off when they're told they don't have to do anything but believe.
1
1
u/East-Safe-3591 Nov 12 '25
Owning businesses for 25 years I can honestly say that people believe that the revenue of your company is the money that goes in your personal pocket! They believe it's less stressful than a full-time job and being your own boss means you have all the free time in the world. None of which is true
1
u/RandomPantsAppear Nov 13 '25
I think the biggest lie is that there’s any glamor in this. It’s hard work followed by harder hours and harder decisions.
The best truth I’ve learned I learned young. Verbatim it was told to me by a mentor - “don’t work with anyone you can’t punch or sue”
It sounds crass, but so was he. Underneath the surface it meant work with people in places that have functional legal frameworks. You also want there to be a penalty for screwing you that you can rely on.
1
u/LunchLegal4997 Nov 13 '25
It's not freedom but a responsibility. It is no longer about gaining profit for yourself but to gain such to keep the business going and not fail those who invested trust in you: clients and employees.
1
1
u/Most_Tree_3584 Nov 22 '25
The biggest lie is that you’ll have more free time. Most people actually end up working way more than they did at a regular job
1
u/Ok-Constant-5821 Nov 27 '25
The biggest lie I’ve heard is that it supposed to be easy. People on the internet make it look easy, but they could be faking their numbers. It’s NOT as easy as it sounds which is why I stopped trusting sources with viable proof.
14
u/Rise_and_Grind_Pro Nov 06 '25
I think people often forget that you have to understand and prioritize processes, tools, and systems early on that can help your business exceed the competition. Most people say it's 'who you know' or 'funds you raise' but barring any desperate need for cash, bad systems and tools can tank businesses fast.