For more than 600,000 people each year, the dream of owning a business becomes a reality. Once reality sets in, many of those budding entrepreneurs realize that some of the things they thought they knew about business ownership weren’t quite on point. If you’re thinking of starting your own company, seeing past some of the common myths of owning a business will help prepare you for the experience.

1) Starting a Business Takes a Great Deal of Capital

Opening a business definitely comes with certain expenses. Some of the primary costs revolve around creating products, taking care of legal concerns, and marketing. Still, you don’t necessarily need to have dozens of investors onboard or take out massive loans to be successful.

It’s possible to start off on a small scale and work your way up with very little capital. In fact, many world-famous companies started with minimal money in a garage or spare bedroom. A few prime examples are Apple, Harley-Davidson, Mattel, and Amazon.

2) An Idea Is All You Need to Succeed

Building a successful business certainly starts with an idea, but that barely scratches the surface. You need to talk to people about your idea. Find out if the product or service you have in mind is something the public needs or wants.

Ask people how they feel about your idea. How can you improve and expand upon it to make it stand out from other options on the market? From there, you have to figure out how to convince people they need your product, and the list goes on.

3) Owning a Business Gives You More Free Time

This is an absolute misconception especially when it comes to startups. Being an entrepreneur is essentially a full-time job. You’ll most likely need to put in at least as many hours as you devoted to your previous job if not more. Otherwise, your business may never get off the ground.

If you reach national or international fame, things may change. At that point, you can hire people to run the company for you. Until then, you’ll have little free time, if any at all. Most insist the end result is well worth the initial frustration and exhaustion, though.

4) You Have to Be an Expert

Most people think they have to know exactly what they’re doing and be an expert in every aspect of their industry before starting a business. That’s just not true. No one is omniscient. Even the most educated and well-prepared entrepreneurs face unexpected problems they don’t know how to handle. Don’t be afraid to accept help when it’s offered, and never turn down advice that’s coming from a good source.

Overcome the Misconceptions

Misconceptions abound when it comes to business ownership. To make matters even more complicated, the truth isn’t the same for every entrepreneur or company. Create a product or service that’s worthy of public attention and develop a solid business plan before establishing a startup. From there, it’s an ongoing learning process. People often have to find their own truths and dispel their own myths along the way as well.