The Do's and Don'ts of Starting a Business

by:Bill Albright
This article about How to Start a Business highlights the top ten do's and don'ts of starting any kind of business. Starting a business is not complicated if you are aware of what to do, and more importantly, what to avoid. It is my hope that these two lists will work together and serve as a guideline when you start your own business, no matter what industry you're in.

Top 10 DO's of Starting a Business

In the planning stages of any new business, optimism usually gives the new business owner plenty of drive, but it can be very easy to become misdirected. This top 10 list was developed for business owners to stay on course and maintain proper direction in the beginning stages. Every business is a little different, however, so you may need to make a slight modification to these Top 10 DO'S of Starting a Business when you apply them to your own business model.


1. Live frugally and begin saving up money to put into your own business.
2. Learn how to start your intended type of business by working for someone else in the same line of business first.
3. Consider the benefits of starting a business on the side of your main-paying job first, such as after hours, so you can still eat and pay rent while learning how to be successful in your business.
4. Consider the advantages of starting a family business. (24/7 help, cheap labor, employee trust, etc...)
5. Objectively measure your skills and training against potential competition before your start your own business.
6. If you're starting a business manufacturing a product, consider subcontracting to low-cost suppliers. (China can make anything for less money than you can.)
7. Test market your product or service before putting any substantial money into the business, even when just expanding.
8. Make your own "pros" and "cons" list, describing all the positive and negative changes to you and to your bottom line, including everything you can think of related to the specific business you are considering starting.
9. Talk to lots of people in your intended industry for advice before starting a business. -Sometimes sub-suppliers to your industry have good advice, too.
10. Make a serious comparative analysis of all opportunities you are considering.

Top 10 DON'Ts of Starting a Business

Like the list above, the following are suggestions to consider when starting any type of business. They are designed to work hand-in-hand with the first list so that you can avoid the most common pitfalls of starting a new business.

1. Don't think about leaving your job until you have started to see some monetary results and fully completed your full start-up plans for the new business.
2. Don't consider starting a business in a field you do not enjoy.
3. Don't risk all of your assets. Limit your liabilities to a predetermined amount when starting a business. It can be a percentage of your worth of a dollar amount, but the point is to pick it from the start and to never cross that line.
4. Don't compete with your employer when you start your own business, especially when moonlighting!
5. Don't be in too much of a hurry to get your business started. When learning how to start most any business, there are no real penalties for missed opportunity.
6. Don't start a business that involves too high a risk, or has to major a hurdle. Take on ten 2-foot hurdles, never one 20-foot hurdle!
7. Never start a business in which you must have the lowest price to succeed, established competition can always under-price once it's in their best interest.
8. Don't be afraid to learn about the negative aspects of your intended business when you are first learning how to start it. You can't start a business with blinders on.
9. Don't let your entrepreneur self-confidence outweigh careful diligence.
10. Don't let the promise of a conceptual high reward deter reality testing. You can never guess what people will actually pay for anything until they do so.