To limit the number of entrepreneurs who dive into business under-prepared, sales and marketing firm Altitude Acquisitions have outlined the sometimes brutal truths about entrepreneurship so that professionals can increase their chances of success.

There seems to be a belief emerging among young professionals that the only way to succeed in entrepreneurship is to drop everything and dive in. Whilst this commitment is admirable, and a sudden shock to the system is sometimes the push new entrepreneurs need to launch a successful career, this approach is also leading to a rise in the number of new entrepreneurs who begin their journeys before they are truly ready and as a result, fail to get past the starting line.

These days, it pays to have more than one job

The pace of today’s business world has meant that many professionals are facing the unknown. As such, many have more than one thing going on at one time to ensure they have a strong skill set and a backup plan, should their entrepreneurial endeavours not work out.

Don’t expect it to be fun and games

Many people may think of entrepreneurs as being able to pick and choose their hours, swan into the office when they like and delegate their workloads. However, in the early days of a start-up this could not be further from the truth. Starting a business is a long and stressful process which will eat up sanity and can be incredibly isolating if an entrepreneur is not careful to maintain their social connections. However, this hard work will pay off eventually.

Don’t peak too soon

Too many entrepreneurs do themselves a disadvantage by telling people about their venture before they actually begin. Not only does this ramp up the pressure to succeed, it also opens them up to a sea of negativity, especially from friends and family who may not be able to understand why they would want to put themselves at this kind of financial risk.

You will fail

The odds are very much not in favour of entrepreneurs, and almost without exception all entrepreneurs will fail at something along the way. The distinguishing factor however between the successful and unsuccessful is how this failure is dealt with and the lessons that are learnt from the experience.