Crucial Steps to Getting Started

(page 2 of 2)

Although we had plenty of other problems, too: employees unwilling to change, dirt-cheap competition from India, and customers ready to throw us over for India, our inability to respond to these challenges stemmed directly from the collapse of our business partnership and friendship." —David Silverman, author of Typo: The Last American Typesetter or How I Made and Lost $4 Million (An Entrepreneur's Education."

Know Your Strengths

"Knowing what your strengths are and knowing what your limitations are is probably the most important thing. Because if you don't know what you don't know, and you don't try to find that out, you will surely not know how to handle it or who to turn to when you crash into it! Learn to understand how successful entrepreneurs think and act. Get to know yourself and answer the questions: Do I have the leadership and management capabilities to lead people? Do I realize that selling and marketing are the two most important activities to get my business going?" —Jonathan Goldhill, principal, The Growth Coach, based in Woodland Hills, Calif.

Find Your Passion

"I believe the most important element is a true passion for the business activity. The successful entrepreneur truly has to have a drive, dedication, and passion to make a success of the activity. The other vital element is the combination of experience and intelligence to be able to handle the management of the enterprise, doing the right things more often than not, and limiting the number of wrongs, mistakes, and stupid things. Listening well with an appreciation of the efforts of subordinates along with the attitude that the customer is right is also important." —Jack McSunas, Orange County (Calif.) SCORE chapter.

Pick What You Love

"The most important thing is picking the right business to begin with. Life is too short to start a business that doesn't produce satisfaction and joy. Through good times and bad times, you will stick with something you love. Take your time and wait for the business that is just right: You're not penalized for missing opportunities. Don't tackle a business that may be too challenging. Look for a business with long-term economic potential, and don't fail to see an opportunity right in front of you. Avoid a business where you must have the lowest cost to survive: In a commodity business you're only as smart as your dumbest competitor. Work for someone in your intended business before starting your own. And if you plan to manufacture a product, consider contracting out production to a low-cost supplier." —Phil Holland, chairman, My Own Business.

Karen E. Klein is a business journalist who covers small-business issues for several national publications. She writes her Smart Answers column twice a week.