• The advantages of having your own business are numerous. Potentially higher income, independence, fullest exercise of creative talents, and a sense of personal pride are some.
• There are also pitfalls. Having a good idea or a good product alone is not enough for developing a successful business.
• The most successful entrepreneurs know their field of business thoroughly, work very hard, think and plan diligently, and always look ahead with flexibility to find opportunities and solutions.
 

Start with an Overview Plan

• Assess your personal suitability as an entrepreneur.
• Determine the market for, and economic feasibility of your product or service.
• Decide on the most advantageous form of your business.
• Calculate the financial requirements for your business.
• Know the permits needed. Research insurance needs, pertinent legal matters, and special requirements.

Spend your initial capital in 60 to 90 days so you'll have incentive to bring in equal revenue to cover your expenses. Start off with a bang!
Revelation: Probably half of all business starts make this error. Money is spent on fancy quarters and furnishings, expensive letterhead, expensive car, and so on. Most successful businesses started in a garage (figuratively) and conserved capital. Initial investment should be stretched to cover two years or more of losses - very heavy first year, less so second year. Rigid cost control essential in any start-up.

Bet your hunch. No need to study market, make a business plan, check
out the competition. Dive in. Your luck will pull you through.
Revelation: One in a million do make it with little or no advance effort. The other 999,999 need to analyze their market, determine the extent of existing competition, develop some alternate plans of action in response to likely poor sales results. Hunches can often be right, but they should be tested against some hard facts.

Measure your success by the revenue you bring in. Nothing else
matters much.
Revelation: What good is it to have a business that has gross revenues of $3 million a year but spent $4 million to produce it? It's the bottom line that counts.. Keep your eye there. A business that grosses $200,000 and has an after-tax profit of $15,000 is doing much, much better than that $3 million grosser.

No mater how good your growth potential, do it all yourself. You'll just buy trouble if you hire help.
Revelation: There's a natural reluctance to hassle with paid employees. Sure, do it all yourself as long as you can, but don't be foolish and put the brakes on growth and profitability by refusing to hire help. The trick is to hire very good people looking for an opportunity to grow with your business. The selection process is a vital step.

Don't work too hard. If you can't get the business off the ground on a
40-hour week, something's wrong with you.
Revelation: Don't take that seriously or you'll go broke in half the normal time. Even after five or six years as an entrepreneur you'll be working more than 40 hours a week. During the start-up years, count on 70 to 100 hours, depending on how well organized and efficient you are. The average for start-ups is 80 hours.

Don't worry about location, your product or service is so fantastic that
where you locate won't matter.
Revelation: Location is the top consideration for a retail business. It's less so with some other firms where customers must come to you. In other cases, especially where you go to customer and no one goes to your office or plant, pick the least expensive location commensurate with the amount of travel you'll have to undertake. If customers come to you, be almost paranoid about getting the right site. Parking would be vital.

Don't waste money on professional help. You can get all you need to
know out of books.
Revelation: Attorneys and certified public accountants can be costly. Under some circumstances their services may be needed only minimally to keep you from making a major blunder. If you know nothing about bookkeeping and accounting and taxes, better get professional help and try to learn as much as you can before easing up on such professional services. Find out how much they'll charge before you engage their services. Every new business ought to have monthly financial statements and keep a running track of where money is coming from and where it is going. Make good financial records a habit.

If you can't break even by the end of the year, give up; don't throw good money after bad.
Revelation: Few start-ups break even in less than three years, some struggle for five. If you haven't done so by the seventh year you probably won't see black no matter how long you stick it out. Biggest reason for new-business failures is lack of staying power.