Flying on the tail feathers of an entrepreneurial boss is potentially the most exhilarating career experience of your life. For those lucky enough to find such a position, uncomfortable though it may be, I can promise you that it will be many other things too: challenging, rewarding, thought-provoking, difficult, infuriating and vastly time-consuming.

You will be given responsibilities and opportunities beyond your dreams – maybe even beyond your experience or abilities – and you will be expected to make a difference, to change the world. You will grow as a person, learning more from your boss than you could imagine, and ultimately you will become very attractive to your leader's competitors.

It sounds glorious, almost too good to be true. Well here's the rub: it is both. You must beware. There are enormous disadvantages, of which little is usually revealed, among them the risk of business failure and financial ruin often caused by the very traits that make entrepreneurs what they are.

The dark side of the entrepreneur is rarely discussed, but this week researchers have bravely revealed that the key entrepreneurial traits of unshakeable self-confidence and arrogance are often behind business failure.

University of Leicester researchers say those businesses most at risk are led by individuals with "absolute" confidence. The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, found market-entry decisions tended to be over-optimistic, with the inevitable result that start-ups tend to exceed market capacity and many fail within a few years.

This clearly demonstrates the need for entrepreneurs to be partnered by a strong number two, someone who can balance the entrepreneur's confidence in the opportunity or business idea with the ability to deliver successfully at all levels.

While the entrepreneur is much-lauded by the Government and Scottish Enterprise, and his or her needs identified as key to the future economy of Scotland, there is just as much need, if not perhaps more, for focused and tailored support for the second in command.

There is a definite lack of recognition on the part of the business support network for this hugely valuable role. If the Leicester researchers are right, it is an entrepreneur's second in command who will actually be key to the future economy of Scotland.

But as yet, and despite much searching, I haven't been able to discover any organised support for this vital person, not from the enterprise network, small business support organisations or consultants (who are usually first to spot a financial opportunity).

There are no training courses or funding packages. Mentoring, while undoubtedly valuable, is usually given to the business leader while the number two is mostly left to get on with it on his or her own.

I have to say, having been a right-hand woman, that it's an incredibly difficult job. Over and above the super-confidence and arrogance, an entrepreneurial boss is usually selfish, single-minded and totally driven to the exclusion of all other things. That's why they are so good at what they do. They like to tell everyone this fact. Often.

Entrepreneurs also tend to be forgetful. They fail to remember meetings, frequently turn up late and make promises they will forget making. They can be mercurial in demeanour, often making a decision and then turning it on its head a day later. Some will change their minds on a sixpence at various times during a day, or even a meeting.

Number twos will be expected to know what they are thinking and articulate it for them. I've found most entrepreneurs know what they mean, but struggle to communicate it. Most are in such a hurry to succeed that they speak too quickly for you to pick up what they say.

Many don't finish their sentences, some speak in thingummyjigs or whatsits, and almost all frequently say: "Oh, you know what I mean anyway, don't you?"

You will also have to lug around a huge metaphorical shovel. Entrepreneurs are successful because they have a great idea and then focus on it until it is a whopping success, or until they get bored and move on to something else.

At either stage you will need to do what's known in the trade as "backfilling" – following the entrepreneur and making sure everything that has been promised is actually delivered. It is an art and once you've got it you're made.

The business guru Tom Peters described entrepreneurship as "unreasonable conviction based on inadequate evidence". I would add "by irrational individuals with unrealistic expectations of other people".

Entrepreneurs all have someone they rely upon with total trust to do all the things they forget, don't have time to do, aren't interested in, or just never thought about.

The entrepreneur will have an idea and in essence, the backfiller will "make it so".

More often than not an entrepreneur's right-hand man is actually a woman. Just look at Willie Haughey and his wife Susan of City Refrigeration; Ian Graham and his wife Sheena of Graham Technology, and Chris and Mary Gorman of Reality.

These are all successful businesses, led by super-confident entrepreneurs, supported by strong number twos with a priceless talent for backfilling.

Business needs entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs also need support, so why not get a shovel and start digging?