Top 5 Lies Entrepreneurs Tell Themselves and Others

“To err is human” and telling a white lie has become an integral part of our social fabric. White lie comes handy to fix any issue with a subtle smile because it stops you from emotionally hurting or insulting others with the bitter truth.

With technology and social media redefining the business standards and opportunities, consumer behaviour has changed to a great extent. The customers always desire to look for truth whether you are marketing products or offering services. Trust is the secret weapon of effective business.  But the need to twist the truth arises when the entrepreneurs experience the ‘fear factor’ of losing their businesses. Their unwillingness to face failures succumb their minds to take the shortest route, which is lying.

Entrepreneurs lie for a purpose in order to maintain social contacts, avoiding insults or discord. And they lie to avoid social conflicts, making their lives easier. They don’t realize that avoiding conflict is a top motivator for deception. The bitter truth is that people have made success out of following incorrect ways, while there are others who have made money from honesty, transparency and truthfulness. And it is an immutable fact that truth inspires confidence and trust and builds relationships.

When you start your business whether it is small or big, the main intention would be to build a trust. Building a trust requires you to be upfront and honest about everything you do. For entrepreneurs, lying may sound like a quick fix for a short term but it comes with a whooping price tag of pain and additional unfortunate consequences in the long run. There are different degrees to lying and there are times where entrepreneurs stretch the truth in marketing and advertising.

According to the Psychologist Robert Feldman, when people’s self esteem is threatened, they instantly begin to lie at higher levels. 

Here are the top 5 lies that entrepreneurs tell themselves and others that often detour one’s success:

1.       I am afraid on the inside whether my idea will work, so I am going to lie

Entrepreneurs are stressed over to find the next big thing. What they often fail to realize that the most successful ideas can be developed by just making those small changes that can have a fruitful impact on business ventures. So, they come up with over-confident projections to grab the attention of their investors.

2.       Hyping my sales efforts will make my products sell more than my competitors

Entrepreneurs compare their products with others and caught up in the never-ending circle of ‘comparison lie’. Even before the product launch, entrepreneurs ask the marketing team to come up with marketing brochures indicating that products are launched and tested for glitches.

3.       I am going to bend the facts and figures to suit my needs

Due to the fear of losing their potential clients, entrepreneurs meddle with their marketing statistical data that come in the form of numbers and tables. They figure a way out in quoting partial statistics, luring others to follow the fallacy.

4.       I am in control

What entrepreneurs fail to realize is that they cannot control many things. When starting a business venture pretending that everything is under your control can be very damaging. One thing that they have little control over is timing.

5.       I don’t have time to be creative because I am very busy hooked up in various things that are lucrative for business

Some of the entrepreneurs can relate to this last lie in their entrepreneurial journey. They tend to miss out on endless opportunities because they make themselves as slaves of their calendar and not the owners of it.

Entrepreneurs are simply barricaded with policies and procedures; hence they experience fear and thus lie. If you give more priority to personal gain over integrity and honesty, remember, lying is a lying whether it hurts or not. But it never works in the long run. Good business relationships are built upon integrity, trust and respect. Successful entrepreneurs believe in a strong sense of basic ethics and integrity. Even if they make few mistakes, they are ready to admit them and offer solutions to correct rather than lie about, blame others or dwell on the problems.

 If you take care of your character, your reputation will take care of itself – Alan Sugar

 What, according to you is the most told lie by entrepreneurs? Tell us in the comments.

Author’s Bio – Mary Abraham

Mary is working as a Content Team Head in a startup company in Bangalore. She is a nature lover and has love for helping and inspiring others. She is passionate about reading and knowing about supernatural events in the world. In the free time, she scribbles her ideas and thoughts in a paper.