What advice would you give a young person starting his/her first small business?

My advice is to thoroughly understand what you will be getting into -- and that means researching as much as you can about the particular business you want to start, and what to expect as an entrepreneur.





Define your business first. What do you want to do? Make a list of possible businesses you can develop and write the pros and cons of each. Clarify your business model.





Check the feasibility of the business idea. Is it workable? Given your resources, do you think there's a chance?





Once you've determined exactly what business to start, research about the business -- how much will it take you to start the business, what do you need, who are doing it, who is your target market, how are you going to reach your market. This is your business plan. It is best to put it in writing, especially if you will be seeking loans or investors as they will require a business plan





I suggest you read the following books as well. Borrow them from your library or buy them from your favorite bookstore





- What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business: Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1鈥?/a>


- If You're Clueless About Starting Your Own Business and Want to Know More http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1鈥?/a>


- Start Your Own Business : The Only Start-Up Book You'll Ever Need http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1鈥?/a>


- Steps to Small Business Start-Up : Everything You Need to Know to Turn Your Idea into a Successful Business http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1鈥?/a>





It may help you if you could talk with a small business expert or free mentors to give you ideas on how to make your dream of starting a business come true even without money. Here are some places where you can find a mentor:





- Government Mentoring Programs such as SBDCs, which works with community colleges and local business development councils to offer mentoring programs http://www.sba.gov/sbdc/sbdcnear.html ; or the Women's Network for Entrepreneurial Training http://www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/wnet_鈥?/a>


- Volunteer programs such as SCORE http://www.score.org which is composed of mostly retired executives and entrepreneurs


- Formal mentoring programs such as Athena Foundation http://www.athenafoundation.org/programs鈥?/a> , Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program http://www.helzbergmentoring.org/HEMP/ , or The Aspen Institute MicroMentor Program http://www.micromentor.org


- Professional organizations such as the National Women鈥檚 Business Council http://www.nwbc.gov/Mentoring/programs.h鈥?/a>


- Industry and trade associations


- Local business groups, such as the chamber of commerce


- Local chapters of business groupsWhat advice would you give a young person starting his/her first small business?
1. Make sure you have enough cash put aside for the first


couple years.


2. Don't over stock your merchandise because some times


you will not have any sales.





** I had a friend who was in the clothing business for 10


years and open his own business and closed after 6


months. .What advice would you give a young person starting his/her first small business?
one word---- execute.





you can sit and talk and plan all you want, but until you execute your business, you wont put the wheels in motion.





you could always make adjustments as you go. my friends always talk about starting businesses, but they dont put it in motion. BEST of Luck!!!!!!
do inteligently and genuine
Get enough money and adapt the plans as you go. Of course you need to think of the plan before hand but you can't think of everything, so adapt.





Also get the right tools or service! Take a look at this huge list of available services:


http://www.moneyaside.com/150-essential-business-or-freelancing-tools-and-resources
Write a REALISTIC business plan.





Have a contingency plan that explains how your business will survive if you have really bad luck and EVERYTHING goes wrong...