If you’ve ever expressed interest in starting your own business, you’ve probably come across a lot of money myths designed to discourage you. I’ve busted three of the most common ones below. Here are some ways to avoid the pitfalls they warn of:

“You have spend money to make money.”

One of the most common money myths would have you believe you need a lot of capital to get a business venture off the ground. The great thing about starting a small business is that it can be just that – small. You don’t need a lot of money to start testing out your business idea now, and you can always scale up later.

It also depends on what type of business you’re looking to start. Service-based business may not call for any upfront investments in materials or supplies. Craft business may be able to source up-cycled materials at lower costs. The possibilities for starting business without a lot of money are numerous. For more reading on this subject, I suggest The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.

“You have to look successful to be successful.”

This money myth is sort of the “keeping-up-with-the-Joneses”  mindset of the business world, and many fall victim to it. Just the other day, I was listening to Hilary Hendershott’s Profit Boss podcast, and she was discussing an earlier part of her career in the mortgage business. She felt that in order to be a successful professional, she needed to project a certain image. She ended up spending all her money to keep up her appearances, and eventually had to turn it around and re-evaluate her financial priorities.

Ultimately, she learned an important lesson – success can come without material trappings. You don’t need to get caught up in spending your startup cash on the best technology or a new car, and you certainly don’t need to fret because your office doesn’t look like Google HQ yet. (Anyway, does anyone actually use those nap pods?) Evaluate what success means to you, and make sure every dollar you spend in your business serves a purpose that agrees with your goals and values.

“Your income becomes less dependable.”

This is a myth-bust within a myth bust! In a Wisebread article on this same topic, I read, “As a business owner, I seemed to have little or no control over my income. I worked hard all the time trying to bring in income and win new business. Sometimes there was a lot of income, but sometimes there was none, despite my best efforts. My income ultimately depended on fickle customer decisions and economic forces beyond my control. Income for small business owners can be quite volatile.”

Clearly, this particular business owner was using the GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) Formula, rather than the Profit First formula. Profit First asserts that Sales – Profit = Expenses. This equation lets business owners create a system to stabilize their income and plan for incoming expenses. The author above probably would have benefited from the free download of the first 5 chapters of the Profit First book! I know I definitely could have benefited from Profit First when I was just starting out as a small business owner. 

If you’re looking for more reading on this topic, definitely download those chapters and read through my other blog posts! If you think you can benefit from some one on one help with your business finances, schedule a curiosity call with me. I wish you the best business beginnings – don’t let these money myths stand in your way!

☮
Angela

Image sources: Thought Catalog, JoelValve