I have seen many people get fired from their jobs ( and the pink slips are flying all over the place with the economy going hay-wire ), and they come up with bummy ideas, or good ideas and just not enough intelligence, resources, or a favorable market to have a good business.

Most people and businesses in general fail because of not doing what is on most of your list, but also one big thing: Seeing the whole picture.

I can say that I have single-handedly failed four businesses in the last four years. A lot of it was to do with my short-sightedness, and my inability to not stick to the same methods of attaining success.

Even the raise no money and do no advertising. Raising money and advertising are two different beasts, and the 2nd one can ruin a company if they are in a saturated market. A lot of successful website gurus give off the " I did it with the word-of-mouth" technique, and now there is such a huge herd of people thinking they can do the same.

I won't go into my view of advertising ( which I feel is equally important if you haven't networked the right people, and doesn't hurt if your competition is just living off a branded system.), but I have consulted businesses and freelancers, and find that they are all entities that contain a litany of mistakes, and the short-sighted ( and half-assed idea-makers) will all fail.

I am not trying to dampen your list, but I think even with the flailing economy, I think starting a business in this climate in insanely more riskier than a normal job. You can become more successful with the former, but the latter keeps the mediocre entrepreneurs from outright drowning.

Before I get blasted, let me give you some ideas that I have seen people float around my circle:

1. An idea for ice cream delivery. Very good, except that two other companies in my area do it already, they make very little on the venture ( they sell more than ice cream), and the demographic that is untapped is college students, who are only around in the winter and a part of the spring ( which is the best time for ice cream?)

2. An idea for a publication for musicians locally online. Most local musicians are poor, and since everyone has the "advertise nothing" mentality of building a name, no one will end up advertising on the blog. It is currently doing well by taking in donations for reviews, but that well will dry up once all the musicians in the area are reviewed.

These aren't all the examples, but what is astonishing is that many people will follow the same path without looking around for competition, a decent strategy, or even a sensible revenue structure.

This should be learned over time, but my whole point is the learning curve kills more entrepreneurs than jobs, and you both can learn from your mistake and get another job or a better business plan. At the end of the day, its cooler to be on your own, but no way anyone can tell me creating a business is less riskier.

Moral of the story: Just do it. Y-Combinator companies are continuously pumping out great products at $10,000 a pop (usually straight out of school, if even)

Just stumbled upon your blog. What a great find. As someone who jumped off the corporate ladder and dove into a start-up, I like your "new rules." Being part of a start up is a wonderful, wild ride with highs and lows. We'll refer to your list often, I'm sure.
I also enjoyed the earlier post (it was link in this one) to the 9 facts to sway the on-the-fence entrepreneur.
I'll tune in more often.

Jocelyn Ring

- Laura Vanderkam

Penelope Trunk offers great advice in her weekly column for the Boston Globe and Brazen Careerist blog. I always love a woman with brazen attached to her name, and Penelope lives up to the tag line. She just wrote a