Eight Tips for Start-Up Success

5. Marketing and selling to new customers is expensive. Demand repeat business. Whatever you sell, you need to make sure that once you get customers and serve them well, they'll come back. Products and services like haircuts, vitamins, bread and accounting advice are things people need again and again. Repeat business is where the profit is in just about every venture. Make sure you have it.

6. Keep recurring costs to a minimum. The biggest destroyers of new businesses are the recurring costs, such as leases on cars, equipment and so on. If you can buy something secondhand or at auction for less money -- and pay cash for it -- do it. You can upgrade later. There'll be times when you're first starting out that you'll have slow cashflow. Don't cripple yourself by committing to expenses years in advance.

7. Get good advice. A good accountant, attorney, business coach or person in any other specific area where you lack skills or expertise is worth your time and money. Work with the best and learn from these mentors. Don't just get them to do a job for you -- learn why they do what they do so you gain knowledge in their field.

8. Be prepared to work really hard for the first year or two. Too many new business owners think that all they need to do is hang out the shingle to get business to come their way. Not true! You have to work at it. Strong sales, effective marketing and nonstop networking all are vital to building a solid cashflow and profit. At times, you'll probably feel like it's too hard and you'll want to give up, but if you stick with it, things will get easier.

Trying to ensure start-up success is far from an exact science. The most important advice I can give you is to keep learning. New knowledge is vital to the success of any new venture you might choose to take on.