Many think they are not well enough educated, have a poor background, or think they need more wealth to get started in a new small business venture.
Let me show you why I think these aren't true.
I don't believe you need a good education to start up successful small businesses.
I believe a poor education may even be an advantage. Just as blind people often have much better hearing, people who have less education often compensate in other ways.
They may communicate more effectively, they often exhibit greater manual dexterity and have great ability to judge risk and reward.
Conversely a good education can even be shown to be a disadvantage to entrepreneurship.
The higher education systems tend to funnel students into good jobs.
After having a good job for a while, the thought of losing it to start a small business enterprise is daunting, and of course when you loose your job you loose that income, which may be needed to start the new venture. This brings me to another self-limiting belief-
I believe you can start a new money-making venture without a lot of money to get started.
The old saying "If you ain't got nothing you ain't got nothing to lose" is absolutely true.
If you have put a lot of money into a new small business venture, then you have a lot to loose. This often makes you so cautious of failure, that you fail to succeed.
Many seriously rich people started from flat-broke or in many cases from serious debt, so I have to conclude that a lot of capital is not absolutely necessary.
For example J. K Rowling is among the richest in the UK. While she was writing her first novel she had barely the price of a good meal. She even had to type the book out twice to send a copy to the publishers because she couldn't afford to have the photocopy done.
You will find many more examples just like this on the Small Business Ideas page.
I believe you don't need to come from a rich background to become rich.
People have worked their way up from living in tin shacks to owning hotel chains. It is just as easy to sell goods to people in the ghetto as it is in the richest street in town.
Indeed it is often much more profitable to sell cheaper goods than the more expensive goods.
Here's a few examples-
Lastly a few examples of successful small businesses, started by entrepreneurs with all three - poor education, no capitol and a poor environment.
One man in Africa who lives in a tin shack with very little education and no capitol at all, makes a great living.
With no more than a stout pair of ordinary scissors, he turns discarded empty drink cans into really stylish flowers. Selling them to locals and tourists, he makes a fine living.
Now I am not suggesting for a moment that this is a workable small business idea for you, but it does prove my point.
Another example, which you are equally unlikely to repeat, is that of many 'pop stars'. I won't go into detail here because I prefer not to get sued, but if you look carefully at the early lives of, say Madonna, Eminem, Bob Dylan etc. you would find they have bettered themselves massively with very few external resources.
Finally, how about Nancy Engel. Starting from flat broke with very little education, she bought $30 worth of assorted spices. Mixing them together, she labeled them 'Italian Spice Mix' and took them to a local flea market the next day. By the end of the day, she'd sold all her stock and pocketed $200. By repeating this simple formula her small business is a great success.
What if you are fortunate enough to live in an outstanding environment, have received an excellent education and have access to seemingly limitless funds? Would this guarantee your small businesses success?
History is littered with examples of people in just this situation, who started business ventures which failed completely leaving them totally broke.
I believe you are just as likely to succeed regardless of your environment, education or funds.
So enough of what you don't need to succeed - what about what you do need? Almost every example on the ideas pages shows that after an idea which the entrepreneur considered profitable, action was required. It sounds obvious, but without action, all you have is an idea, and by themselves ideas rarely make you successful!
By action I don't mean simply telling everyone you know about your idea, I mean actually doing something to make your idea happen.
That action my friend, is up to you, but if you are looking for some good ideas - well, then I can help you.
You will find over 600 ideas here on 4-Small-Businesses.com.
Three different kinds of ideas can be found here-
You can change your life massively with no more than a few good small business ideas and a little action.