There are a number of components that make or break a startup business. Over the years there have been a few that stand out above the rest. I have seen startups come and go. And Ivé seen some of them become well-organized, super-effective profit-machines. Unfortunately the former is a lot more common than the latter. Most startups fail, or should I say they fail to provide the founders and the support team around them with adequate pay-off with regards to the often very hard work involved. So what does make one startup a success and another a failure? There are a lot of factors involved and it is difficult to recognize and categorize all of them, but there are some common denominators to those businesses that finally make it. Here is my list, while it may not be complete or correspondent to another man´s list, I have found these qualities to be a good predictor of longer-term startup success:

1. Frugal living. Keeping costs low is one of the most important prerequisites for success. I don´t know why it has such powerful predictive capabilities regarding to ultimate success or failure, but it is a time-tested and empirical piece of the puzzle that cannot be overlooked. First of all, keeping costs low gives entrepreneurs time to get a firm foothold in the market place. Providing that you have something of value, it may take some time before enough people recognize that value, and to survive that time period entrepreneurs need capital. The less capital they need, the easier it is to keep the operation going. Besides this there seems to be something cultural about keeping costs low, i e startups that keep costs low tend to be led by entrepreneurs who live pretty simple and straightforward low-maintenance lifestyles. They keep pushing towards their goals, and money is more of a vehicle in order to realize their dreams than it is a goal in its own right. This brings us to the next item on this list.

2. Singleness of purpose. Those entrepreneurs that tend to make it have a certain type of intensity about them. This does not mean that they are outgoing or outspoken. There seems to be successful entrepreneurs among all different personality types. What it means is that they are often very passionate and knowledgable about their line of business and their enterprise. You can see it in their eyes and hear it in their voice once you start discussing with them. They never get enough. They can sit until 3 am in the morning and discuss what to other individuals would seem as trivial things. To put it bluntly they are, in the purest sense of the word, nerds. They know it. They love it. And the market place often enough loves it as well. There is nothing like a good dose of passion to spark things up. And there is nothing better than pure passion to ignite that very powerful engine inside inside our souls which we refer to as singleness of purpose.

3. Entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs make up the heart of any business. They are by far the most important component in the equation. I would rather deal with fantastic entrepreneurs with a lousy idea, than I would deal with not-so-great entrepreneurs with a potential blockbuster. Good people tend to do fantastic things, given enough time. Lesser entrepreneurs can screw up a gold mine. If I could just pick one item on this list this would be it. Show me some great entrepreneurs and I will show you a good investment opportunity. Show me founders with heart, passion, smarts and good working ethics and the world will beat a path to your door. Really, it´s that simple.

4. Persistence. No matter what line of business you choose to enter there will be some major obstacles down the road. All businesses move in cycles. There will always be both good and demoralizing, bad times. While the good times often seem to pass by surprisingly fast, it is of paramount importance to withstand the bad times firmly. There is nothing as valuable for an entrepreneur than sheer persistance. It will overcome most obstacles, given enough time. It transcends smarts, capital, connections, even luck to some extent. If you just have sheer persistance things tend to work out- eventually. Whenever you read about a successful entrepreneur in the magazine know this- they have all failed a thousand times. No one knew about them back then. Nobody saw them struggle. Nobody cared. There was no one around to see them tweak their approach a little, try again, try harder, this time with even more determination. The world will notice when you succeed. The thousand mistakes that build up to ultimate success will always go unnoticed. And the story about the persistance so dearly required to succeed in business will be lost somewhere along the way.

5. Provide value to customers. In order to make money from a business idea it needs to solve a problem for potential customers. It needs to bring value to their lives. The more customers you affect with your product or service, the more money you tend to make. But you must provide value. There are a number of ways to provide value. Find an existing product or service and make it better. Or find a need that is not currently being met by the market place. Since the world is a big place and there are a lot of people doing business, many ideas have already been battle-tested and for that reason most businesses evolve around the concept of taking an existing idea and improving on it slightly. Or you take an existing idea and try to convert it to another arena. An example of this would be to take an existing business idea that is bringing value to customers and convert it to the world of online business. Providing you build on the strengths of the new medium, you can very often get some great competitive advantages from making this shift.

6. Keep moving forward. The best entrepreneurs tend to always be moving forward. Some of the most successful ones I have met or worked with keep suprising me by always adding small, almost unoticable improvements to their business. They never stop improving. They tend not to be ovely concerned by what their competitors are doing. They are so focused on making their vision a reality, they simply don´t have the time to think about anybody else. Except for their customers. Successful entrepreneurs always try to make their core group of customers happy. In most instances I have found this customer satisfaction focus has less to do with making money than one might realize. Instead it is often rooted in a deep sense of pride and achievement that happy customers brings them. Paradoxically, by not thinking too much about what their competitors are doing or about how to increase profits, and instead focusing on continually improving the customer´s experience, these companies tend to do a lot better than their peers. The empirical evidence I have seen tends to support the idea of launching now, don´t postpone it. After that you need to continuously improve on your business and on the customer experience. An important part of these improvements is to be “close to the customers” and understand their needs and how you can fullfill those needs in the best way possible. Try to improve all the time. If something fails, try again this time with something slightly different. Don´t overanalyze. Don´t procrastinate. Just keep moving forward. Just keep improving the value you are offering to the world. All these small improvements tend to add up pretty impressively over time. A good startup is like a good bottle of wine. It tends to keep improving over the years, if you just give it the time it requires.

So there it is. The six qualities I have found in most successful entrepreneurs, after a lifetime of doing business and what seems like an eternity of learning from my own mistakes. Should you possess most or all of the qualities I have listed above, I can tell you that your prospects of making it as an entrepreneur are exceptional. Most of us have but a few of the qualities on the list, and we need to understand the importance of the others and try to improve on them. Not all people are cut out to be great entrepreneurs, but many can achieve a lot more than they might initially believe. As in most other endeavours in life it very often comes down to persistence and attitude. If you keep trying to do it, and yoy truly believe it can be accomplished very often, life will take you a lot further than you initially thought possibly. Go do it!

There are a large number of apps out there for the budding entrepreneur, but as always there are some who stand out and can be a real asset to your enterprise. What´s even better is that most of these assets are free of charge, or are quite inexpensive at the very least. While all of them might not be a perfect fit for you and your company- check them out and see for yourself if you have overlooked any of these must-have tools.

1. Google Docs. Google docs is an inspiring piece of software, from a company that has virtually flooded the market with inexpensive and useful software. While it has many potential uses the single use I prefer the most is that several people can conduct work on the same document at the same time, regardless of where they are situated. Perfect if you find yourself divided geographically from your co-workers. A masterpiece when you are travelling. You can access your team-work anywhere, anyplace and all it takes to be productive is an internet connection.

2. Dropbox. There are a number of companies that offer free data storage accessible from anywhere. For some reason I quickly grew accustomed to dropbox and the software has been a brilliant, reliable and loyal companion of mine ever since. Dropbox is ideal for file sharing, but you can also use it for backup and as a mobile storage center for all your information and work. Forgot a document? No problem. The cloud is accessible from anywhere. Your laptop crashed? No sweat. Dropbox has you covered. The pricing structure is pretty straightforward. You get a decent amount of space for free, and you need to pay a subscription for additional storage capacity. I got dropbox on all my computers, my iphone and my ipad. It doesn´t get any easier to access files across different platforms than this.

3. Evernote. I use Evernote for so many things I can´t even begin to describe how useful i find this software. I keep my todo-list here and update them along the day. I do this on different devices since I have evernote installed on all of them and the program updates new input automatically across all platforms. I do voice memos or just quick notes when I get a great business idea I want to examine later on. When I find interesting stuff on the internet I use Evernote to save it for later use and reference. I also store some important paperwork and PDF:s in my account, for quick and easy access. I haven´t tried to share evernote yet, but I have heard it is a powerful tool for team-based efforts, much like Google docs. Standard version is free of charge, premium version will cost you a few bucks a month. Try the free version. If you love it as much as I do it´s easy peasy to go premium.

4. Jump Desktop. A good way to be able to access your computer remotely. Basically this app let´s you use your computer asif you were in the same room. All it takes is internet access. While I don´t use this handy software nearly as much as I use some of the other items on this list, there have been times when this application has saved the day. Priced around $ 20 it is a keeper for those of you who want remote control capabilities literally in your pocket.

While there are plenty of useful resources out there these are some of those I consider to bring the highest value at the lowest possible cost. To me, most of these are no-brainers, and if you for some reason haven´t checked them out yet, you definitely should. The freemium model that most of these companies employ lets you try before you buy. There is simply no more excuses. Just go get them and try them out. Enjoy!

We have all been there, those dreadful periods where nothing seems to happen and our business is at a standstill. Everything seems to be so routine and while you may be making enough to provide for yourself and your loved ones, the extra incentive is just not there. How do we deal with stalemate situations? Well, we need to change something. What do we change? There are a number of different variables to consider trying out. They all have their particular strengths and weaknesses and each course of action should be undertaken with the special needs and circumstances of your particular  business in mind. So for the frsutrated entrepreneur, here are five time-tested ways to try something different and potentially give your business a much needed revival.

1. Create a new product or service that supplements your current one. You already posses the business realtionships with potential customers. You know your market. You may even have the neccessary equipment and know-how to widen your product line. Ask yourself this: is there any product or service that I can offer that will suplement my best selling product or service? Can I bundle the two together for a complete package deal. What can I offer to make my best selling item even more compelling? It isn´t a coincidence that all major travel companies also sell insurance, car rental and accomodation packages. Once the business model is in place it should be fairly easy and logical to diversify, as long as that diversification adds value to the customer and makes sense from a business point of view.

2. Sell more of your existing product. There are basically two roads that you need to examine here. First, you could ask yourself if there is any way you could sell more to your current customer base. Maybe you can try to gain some market share from some of your competitors. A prerequisite for going down this road is of course that your customers are currently happy with the value your business adds to their lives. If that isn´t the case, this might not be a feasible course of action. The second course of action you might want to explore is whether there are som untapped markets in your neighbourhood that you haven´t researched yet. Try to think in creative ways here. Do some serious brain storming and think way out of the box. You can always exclude the less stellar ideas at a later time. The important thing is try to be creative and think in new ways. You just might be surprised at some of the potential leads that this little exercise might bring you.

3. Cut bad products from your line. You would be amazed at the number of businesses that are stuck selling a service or product simply out of habit. In most instances the product doesn´t add neither a significant profit nor a loss for the company. But there is a major downside. The particular product or service takes up a lot of resources and time. It steals away energy from the stars of your product line, and even more importantly it doesn´t allow for other more healthy products to take its place. If a product doesn´t sell, and it is not part of a strategic line of offering, you should cut it quicklymost cases. the market has spoken. Try something new. Go for something that will outsell your current best seller. Aim high. And if it doesn´t work, simply recharge and try again.

4. Improve your sales methods. I am not talking about sending your sales team to a sales academy. I´m talking about thinking about alternative ways to organize your contacts with customers, but also to listen to your customers. A company that is always willing to go the extra mile in order to provide their customers with a superior experience will rarely find itself out of work. Ask you customers how they would like the sales process to look like. What do they think you do good and what can you improve? And if they could wave their magic wands what would the sales process look like? The customer pays our wages, rents and overhead. They are the ones who are really in charge of our business. Try to provide the customer with what they want, and your business should be rewarded accordingly.

5. Focus on what´s important. We all know about the 80-20 rule. While the rule isn´t always perfect, in many cases 20 % of our work really does account for 80 % of our profits. The concept is simple really, yet many people are reluctant to try this method. They claim they don´t have the time, that it is a simplified way of looking at the world. They may have a point. But I have seen far to many businesses rake in a lot more cash by applying this concept than any other concept I have tried over the years. Go find what activity or event creates 80 % of your company´s profits and set more time aside for this particular activity. Take time from activities that are less profitable. Don´t worry about the fact that you feel you can´t really find the time. Just try it for a short period. Chances are you will be so amazed by the results, that you might stick with it.

We recommend you don´t go all out on any one of these strategies. Try them in smaller scale at first. Learn from your mistakes, and improve your game-plan. If one of these strategies takes of you can start to think about upping the scale and go for a full business remodelling. At the very least you will be happy you tried something new. Every now and then your business model needs a critical look. Whether or not that critical look leads you down a new avenue is really up to you and the business circumstances. But it is at least important to try. After all isn´t that what entrepreneurs do? They discover new avenues, try new things, and they go for action. Always looking to improve, and try the less travelled road. Always willing to go the extra mile. And always shooting for the stars…

You can achieve your dream of operating your own business with less capital than ever before in human history. That´s the good news. The bad news is that you need to stay on top of a lot more things than ever before. The technical revolution is happening so fast and across so many different lines it is hard for any one individual to stay on top of it all and keep a good perspective. While you could build a business on a very low budget, it may be in your best interest to invest some money in the things that are worthwhile and that really make a difference. Let´s have a look at what tools are at your disposal, what your priorities should be, and what you need to consider to achieve startup bliss.

1. Dig where you stand. While there is certainly other ways to go about starting up a business, it is my experience that most successful entrepreneurs operate in a field in which they have a competitive advantage. That competitive advantage might take on several different forms, but I do believe it is necessary to give yourself the best possible chance of success. Ask yourself: is there anything I´m exceptionally good at? What have I excelled at during my younger years? What do I love to do, and more importantly what have I devoted big portions of my life to already? Is there an interest that stands out? Do I have a personality trait which stands out? What do my friends and family consider I am really good at? If you are younger and want to start a business my advice is simple: just go do it. I am confident that you would at the very least learn so much from the endeavor that it would be time (and money) well spent. If the business is successful that´s just a bonus. Whatever happens, it will be a fantastic building block for success later on in life. But if you can´t have the luxury of a potential “crash-and-burn” experience you should be looking to tap into your life experience and commit to a field in which you are familiar and in which you can stand out, preferably head and shoulders above the competition.

2. Put away an emergency stash. Being self-employed is a financial roller-coaster in most cases. At times everything is fine and the money is pouring in, but on other occassions there just isn´t enough to go around. In order not to let the financial roller coaster turn into an emotional roller coaster you need an emergency stash safely tucked away. When the rainier days appear you will be able to keep your long-term objectives, instead of being forced to make unwanted desperate shorter-term decisions. Being self-employed is stressful as it is. Do not let yourself be a prisoner of your last cash-flow statement. Instead, allow yourself to stand firm in the face of adversity and keep your eyes on your long-term goals. If you adhere to this advice it will save you a lot of worrying down the road.

3. Go to the mattresses. This phrase from the blockbuster movie The Godfather means, in its purest form, to prepare for battle and adopt a warlike stance. So what does this mean in business terms? It means go get your hands dirty. While you don´t need a lot of money to start a business nowadays, you still do need to put in a lot of time and effort to make things happen. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. You might want to break down your long-term goals into daily short-term “to-do-lists”. That way you can keep yourself motivated even when you are overwhelmed by what needs to be done. As the riddle goes: “How do you eat an elephant?”. The answer: “A little bit at a time.” While it is good to have the longer-term goal clearly stated, it is neccessary to break that goal down into smaller pieces, and get as many of those done in the shortest amount of time possible. Start with the easy stuff. That way you will get a feeling of accomplishment, which will motivate and inspire you to get the harder tasks done as well.

4. Do I really need this? Ask yourself this question every time you are about to make a purchase on behalf of your enterprise. Most of the time, the answer should be no. You really don´t need that much to be in business. The biggest cost you will have is time. Time to get things moving, time to keep them moving, and time to keep it all together. You don´t really need a fancy office. But you do need a good work environment where you are allowed to work undisturbed for long hours. You can work from home, as long as you can get a decent amount of work done there. A home office with a separate entrance is ideal. Establishing ground rules with your spouse is of paramount importance. Work time is just that- work time! You don´t need an expensive office but a comfortable chair might be a good investment. Also your daily work equipment needs to be excellent. Personally I tend to put more emphasis on technological devices that help me do my work more effectively. This depends of what line of business you are in, but for me investing in a good computer, fast internet access and a smartphone is a no-brainer. Also I can honestly say that my Ipad (although relatively expensive) has enabled me to work more effectively and get a lot more done throughout the day.

5. Go digital. If you are not on the Web you might as well be dead. At least in the eyes of potential customers. The internet allows you to do some serious networking at virtually no cost whatsoever. It will take some time though, so you really need to consider if you are in a line of business that is suited for digital networking and internet maketing. You really do need a website. It doesn´t have to cost a lot, and in many cases you might want to consider doing it yourself. Learn to create a simple website using WordPress or some other CMS. Outsource the design to someone else. You might want to consider adding some content to your site every now and then to create some loyal traffic from customers, but again this is dependant on what line of business you are operating in. Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are all free of charge and represent excellent opportunities for the upstart entrepreneur. The writing is on the wall, the internet is making a huge impact on the world of business and this trend is still growing. We strongly urge you to put a digital footprint in place as soon as possible. It will only cost you a couple of hundred bucks and a bit of time, but the upside is tremendous.

6. Get your infrastructure in order. Your business infrastructure is a lot more than the furniture you keep in your office. I am talking about everything you need in order to run your business efficiently and at the lowest possible cost. The most important part of your infrastructure is your team. I am talking about all those supporting people you interact with on a daily basis to keep your business going. Your accountant, your tech guy, your suppliers, you lawyer they are all part of your social infrastructure and they can make or break a business in the blink of an eye. You need to have people around you which you can trust. Ideally you want to be doing business with the same group of people all your life. This will save you a lot of time, and money in the long run and it will enable you to put your focus where it should ultimately be- finding improved ways to serve your customers even better in the future. I have had the same support team in place for the last 15 plus years and the impact it has had on my business cannot be overstated. Save yourself the hassle and get your support team in order.

So there it goes, some things to consider before taking the leap. There is plenty more worth mentioning but this shoulg get you started, and more importanly, get you moving in the right direction. Good luck!

There are quite a few pitfalls to be aware of before you start splashing around yuor nest egg on your business idea, however terrific and original it may be. First of all it might be a good idea to start with small baby steps. Just try putting one foot in front of the other and remember that a good defense is most often the best offense. Do you really need to quit your job right away, or can you build your business in the evenings and during weekends in the beginning? Do you really need the fancy business cards or the posh office funrniture? Having build a number of successful businesses myself, and having spent years of my life mentoring younger entrepreneurs there are some prudent advice I would like to give you.

My advice is based on years and years of experience and hard work. I paid dearly to get this experience, and while there may be exceptions to the rules you should at least consider my advice if you are thinking about opening your first business. So here it goes, without further delay, a list of things that might help your first business take off smoothly (and with less anxiety).

1. Don´t quit your day job immediately. There is simply no point in quitting your day job the moment you get a new business idea. Growing a business is a long and tiresome process. It is a marathon, not a sprinting contest. You should expect a lot of time to pass by before you can take out a salary, let alone take home some profits from your business startup. Use the cash flow and sense of security that your day job provides you with, and work your business startup in your spare time. Put aside some extra cash for rainier days, and accept the additional work-load of having a regular day-time job. It is only temporary, and it serves a greater purpose.

2. Test your business idea quickly and effectively. You should try to test your business idea as soon as possible. There has never been a better time in history to take a product to market and test its merits quickly and in an affordable manner. The internet is a great channel for giving your idea a test drive. Go do some face-to-face selling. Phone and e-mail prospective clients. Talk to potential customers and get their input. It is important to talk to real customers, and not family and friends. Get the truth, adapt to it, and only then go build on your product (or service) and brand.

3. Keep costs to a minimum. You don´t really need anything in order to start a new business. It takes a computer, a phone, some spare cash and a lot of determination and hard work. All the fluff, is uneccessary, and you should avoid it like the plague- at least in the beginning. You don´t need a fancy office. You do need to keep your overhead low and your work ethic high. In the long run a profitable and healthy business is more about attitude than props.

4. Stay committed. Persevearence is the number one personality trait to posses if you wish to succeed in business. I have seen many smart individuals fail over the years. I have seen quite a few committed entrepreneurs fail over the years but in general, this group bounces back sooner or later. They learn from their mistakes and they never stop pressing forward, and pursuing their dreams. They will not let a bump in the road interfere with their longer-term visions and goals.

5. Adapt to reality. As Darwin once stated, those who prosper are not the biggest, brightest or best. Those who prosper are good at recognizing and adapting to change. While it is highly desirable to be stubborn as an entrepreneur in pursuing your passions and dreams, do not let yourself become unaware of the world around you. You need to be able to separate a temporary bump in the road from a structural defficiency in your business idea. If something isn´t working it is important to ask yourself why, and come up with an honest answer. Adapt to the truth, and once you do go back to being your old stubborn self and pursuing your dream once again.

While my advice might not work for everybody, I truly believe they will be helpful to most who are thinking about starting their own business. Start small, keep your costs to a minimum, find a (successful) mentor, put your game face on and start chasing your dreams. There is no better thing than to be in control of you own business and taking command of your own destiny. Just make sure to have the defense covered before starting to think about the offense…