This campus is bursting with entrepreneurial spirit. University grads have founded iconic companies such as PayPal, YouTube and Tesla Motors — just to name a few. It’s no wonder why many students on campus, including myself, are inspired to make millions by starting new businesses of their own.

While there are plenty of success stories out there, we don’t hear as much about how rare these successes actually are.

A recent Harvard study found that nearly 75 percent of all venture-backed startups fail. That’s scary when you consider that nonventure-backed startups, which make up a majority of new businesses, are even more likely to fail. So many new businesses fail because the people starting them are often ignorant to the realities of what entrepreneurship actually entails.

Part of this ignorance is encouraged by the folklore surrounding many famous moguls. For instance, many believe that Bill Gates took the enormous risk of dropping out of Harvard and creating Microsoft from nothing. In reality, as explained in Rick Smith’s “The Leap,” Gates was from an affluent and well-connected family, and he only dropped out of college after he had Microsoft well under way (he had taken a leave of absence from school in case things didn’t work out). In addition to his nearly 10 years of computer experience, his mother provided him with a connection at IBM, where he first launched his famous MS-DOS.

The point is that Gates’ success came as a result of substantially less risk than people often think.

Entrepreneurship is not something that should be pursued on a whim: Deciding whether one is prepared to start a business is something that can be determined long before any precious time or money is spent.

In “The Entrepreneur’s Equation,” investment banker and media contributor, Carol Roth, explains the lessons she has learned from witnessing the fates of numerous startups. She explains that motivation is a key determinant of success. She emphasizes that a good startup needs to be based on the idea of providing something of quality to meet consumer demands. She explains that startups motivated solely by desires to get rich quickly, to do a hobby for a living or to be one’s own boss ultimately fail because they are unable to effectively connect with a market.

Ego can blind inexperienced tycoons from the fact that they do not actually work for themselves. They work for all the customers, investors and lenders that make their businesses possible. Having success depends on having real industrial experience to know how to satisfy all these parties.

Simply having a really good idea is not enough to warrant starting a business. Serial entrepreneur Ilya Pozin points out in Forbes that good ideas are not worth anything — it’s the business skills behind them that are significant.

Incompetence can doom a promising idea, but good business skills can make even a mediocre idea work. For proof, just look at the Snuggie. Who could have possibly thought that marketing a blanket with sleeves would be a good idea?

To further illustrate, imagine you are an avid tennis player, so you consider opening your own tennis academy. Initially this is an enticing idea because you would be doing what you love for a living. However, just because you are a skilled tennis player does not mean that you have the slightest idea how a sports training business operates.

Before jumping into any business venture you should ask yourself the following questions:

What proof do you have that this kind of business can actually turn a profit? Are you currently able to gather the resources necessary to support your vision? What experience do you have managing employees, finding customers and filling out financial statements? Would putting in extra time and effort only to come away with less money than you would working an alternative job be worth it?

A Harvard business professor specializing in entrepreneurship quotes Steve Jobs, saying, “Follow your heart, but check it with your head.” Applying this simple principle to entrepreneurship can spare a lot of misfortune, especially if one is living in dire financial straits. Those who first verify that their goals and business aptitude are likely to lead to success can then proceed confidently knowing that they have what it takes to be prosperous and happy running their own enterprise.

Andrew is a sophomore in Engineering. He can be reached at [email protected].