It’s imperative that you really consider these three points below to help you choose the best possible partner to help you launch your startup. Life as an entrepreneur can be fragile at times, so you need a co-captain who has proven they can push through when you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.

1. The Spouse Test. Your chances of success are much higher if you choose someone who has the qualities that complement your own. Much like you would choose (or have chosen) a spouse. A person who is detail-oriented and very specific about best practices will pair well with someone who is a master networker or brainstormer. When you choose this way, the division of responsibilities won’t be such a blurred attempt at accomplishing a task since it will be clear who should handle what.

2. The Houseguest Test. It goes without saying that you will be spending a lot of time with your business partner. Startups require relentless attention and late nights. If you can’t imagine putting up with this person as a houseguest for more than one night, chances are those personality conflicts will get in the way of working closely together. Best to choose someone who you can picture moving into your home indefinitely without any foreseeable issues.

3. The Friend Test. Choose someone who is a friend, but not your best friend. A working relationship is different than a social relationship. Work lets you see how the other hits deadlines, pitches ideas, and sells products. And when disagreements happen on the job, they aren’t loaded with the emotional baggage that comes with a long-term friendship. So try to look for someone outside your social circle. Before jumping in head first into a startup, try partnering on a smaller project to assess how well you work together.

Who of you have taken these points into consideration when choosing someone to work with? Did you find that it made your startup easier to launch? We’d love to hear your stories – leave us a comment!

And it all started with a mere $5,000 and a desire to fix the current problem pantyhose presented: visible seams at the toes and an unsightly puckering at the waistline where the pantyhose ended and your stomach began.

How can you, as an entrepreneur, mimic Sara’s process?

• Keep Motivating Yourself. Sara started reading self help books at a very early age, which helped propel her into the proper mindset for always believing that if you set your mind to it, you can accomplish your goals. She trained her mind to always look for opportunities in life, so that when an idea came (Spanx) she would be ready to act.
• Be Good At Sales. Your idea won’t go anywhere unless you have a way to sell it. “Sales” tends to have a negative connotation, but if you truly believe in your product, you will never have to learn how to sell it. Your passion will do that for you.
• Solve A Problem. Sara realized that women everywhere were having a hard time with pantyhose. They weren’t comfortable at the waist, creating a muffin top effect that was unattractive. Plus, the toe seams were visible which limited what type of shoe a woman could wear. So Sara created a product that eliminated those issues, but still gave the same effect of shape wear that women desired. This was the first time someone had attempted to solve this problem for women!
• Prepare. Know everything about your product and how it is made. Research patents, previous attempts at the same product, related products, etc. Then, based on your knowledge, create a product that you would love and use every day. If you don’t stand behind your product 100%, how can you convince anyone else to?

I find Sara’s story so inspiring. $5,000 ten years ago has now erupted into a billion dollar company. All because of a simple idea that she pushed into fruition.

What motivates you about this story? Do you have any ideas that will solve a problem for the public? Now is the time to act! I hope you use Sara’s story as motivation to bring your ideas into reality.

1. You bring your work to bed. Although you may find it relaxing to lie down in a comfy bed while checking your emails on your Blackberry or working some quick figures on your laptop, studies prove that having that much stimuli (light, flashing, etc.) before bed actually keeps your brain perked up for hours, interfering with your sleep. Stick to a rule of no tech gadgets in the bed.

2. You have a weak password. Everyone does the standard pet name or birthday password, but that’s just asking for your information to get hacked. Getting your identity stolen is a HUGE headache to remedy. Just avoid that problem by taking a few extra minutes to create a password that no one can break. Get help with that here: hacker-proof passwords

3. You skip system updates. I know its annoying when you’re in the middle of a project and your computer alerts you that new system updates are ready to be installed. It’s easy to cancel those messages and continue with your work, but make it a point to restart your computer when you’re finished with your work. Keeping everything updated ensures that your machines will run efficiently and securely.

What do you think? Is there anything you want to add to this list? We’d love to hear your comments!

1. Maintain the passion – Once you get into the daily aspects required for running a successful business, you will find that your time for recreational fun will dwindle, leaving you little room to encourage that corner of creativity in your brain. The best way to avoid this burn out is to stay involved with the activities that ignite the most passion for you. The founders of Warrior Dash keep their passion alive by making a point to continue to run in various races throughout the year. This helps them remember why they love to compete, and forces them to continually delegate tasks to their employees since they are on the field.

2. Make fun a priority – “There’s a palpable difference between companies that have a culture led by a truly passionate entrepreneur and those that use passion and fun as sales and recruiting gimmicks,” he says. “In the authentically passionate companies, everything grows from that passion, including the people, policies, branding and community relations. That obsessive focus on whatever it is that gets you out of bed can’t be faked, but it takes work to create the circumstances under which it can thrive. Maintaining primacy of mission and having the strength to stay on course and avoid distractions is critical”, says Torrens of Syracuse University. [source]

Creating a positive culture for your employees can mean providing amazing benefits, having alternative workplace solutions, providing free lunches and having new business idea contests with prizes.

3. Expand your passion – Just because your business starts with one goal or purpose doesn’t mean that you always have to stick hard and fast to that one purpose. As an entrepreneur, it’s important to remain flexible and understand that change is a good thing and there are various roads to success.

Take Reynolds and Kunkel for example. They started Red Frog Events based on their love of running and competition. But they have realized that their love isn’t just limited to competitive runs – they want to produce a variety of recreational activities. Starting this year, they plan on hosting their own music festival which they hope will compete with some of the world’s largest in the industry. “Every decision we make isn’t for this week or next week or next year, but for 20 years down the road,” Kunkel says. “Building a sustainable company requires ongoing reinvention and new development.” [source]

Being able to stretch into new opportunities, and allowing your business to expand is one of the greatest ways to grow into success. What do you think of this list, and the one from last week? Do you have anything you want to add? We’d love to hear your feedback!

But just like you don’t wait until you are dehydrated to drink water, nor should you wait until your equipment crashes and burns before you pay it a little attention.

Below are five bad tech habits that most people are guilty of:

1. Poor ergonomics. We all know countless studies have shown how bad it is for the body to sit at improper angles, staring at a computer all day. Everything from your keyboard to the correct bend at your knees when sitting in a chair can adversely affect your body. Use this checklist to make sure you’re doing things right.

2. Not cleaning your equipment. You touch your phone and your keyboard countless times a day, after doing countless activities. So that means germs and grime build up and create a cesspool of bacteria. Just make sure you regularly wipe down your tech gadgets once a week with anti-bacterial cleaner.

3. Not backing up data. A major no no! This should be a standard weekly process. Your computer or network can crash at anytime and some data may disappear forever – something you just cannot afford. Back it up!

4. Never getting up to move around. Sitting in a chair for long periods of time can lead to blood clots in your legs and weight gain. Every 30 minutes try to get up and stretch, or walk to the other side of the room and back.

5. Not properly shutting down equipment. It’s easy to just close the lid of your laptop and carry on with other business, but that action will lessen the life of your computer. It’s better to put it to sleep as that will halt all action and keep it from overheating. But don’t forget to completely shut it down at the end of the day so it can have a good night’s sleep, too.

Who is guilty of these bad habits? I’m definitely guilty of just shutting my laptop lid, so I will be putting it to sleep from now on. Stay tuned next week for a few more bad habits!

Say you’ve got the passion, the tools and the entrepreneurial spirit. But maybe you need some help manifesting your dream business into reality?

First, you need to know where to begin. And the best place to start is with identifying what it is you love. Take Joe Reynolds of Chicago, for example. He is adventurous by nature, and explored over 40 countries on his own before deciding to turn his passion into a business. He pulled in Ryan Kunkel, and together they formed a company that eventually lead to hosting the famous Warrior Dash races all over the country. If you don’t know anything about the Warrior Dash, it’s a 5K race with “natural” obstacles: rock walls, mud pits, flaming tunnels and log-filled ponds, and it’s massively popular.

These races are growing exponentially in size and are going international for the second year in a row. In just five years, their revenue has grown from $50,000 to a projected $85 million in 2012.

“We’ve had a tremendously successful start over the past four and a half years, but we continue to be excited about what will come next,” Reynolds says. “When you’re really passionate about your business, you can see lots of tremendous opportunities.” [source]

The reason this idea worked is because Reynolds was able to successfully combine his love for competition with a fun environment. Through hard work and dedication, he was able to provide an outlet for the public that provided just that.

So what key points can you, as an aspiring entrepreneur, take away from these successful guys?

First – you need more than passion to get your business off the ground. Passion is great and will be the fuel for the long nights you will most certainly be working, but you also need to take inventory of your dedication to work hard and whether or not there is a market for your product.

John Torrens, a serial entrepreneur and an entrepreneurship professor at Syracuse University says, “the one non-negotiable factor for any sustainable business is that they solve a problem for a specific customer segment in a way that is appreciably better than the next best alternative.” [source]

Second – hire people who share your vision. If your business has a foundation where all employees are passionate about what they do, it will be able to expand easily as it grows. Plus, the more people you trust with your business means the more you can delegate responsibility, without having to have your hand in every aspect of the business.

Third – share your passion with others. If you’re passionate about something, chances are you have a lot of knowledge to share. So share it! There are people out there who are interested in the same thing, and they are just looking for a little guidance. Be their gateway to more knowledge.

What are you passionate about? Have you been able to create a successful business based on doing what you love and working hard to get it? We’d love to hear your feedback! Next week I’ll share three more points with you that will be key to your success.

1. Link your images to your blog. Just like your blog, you can use Pinterest to share industry news, tips and tricks of the trade. You can add photos to your blog, then pin them on Pinterest, adding a link so that when visitors click on the photo they are directed directly to that particular blog post. Remember – post pictures on your blog first, then pin on Pinterest.

2. Promote company events. If there is an event coming up in your city, you can create a board named after the particular event. Then you can pin photos to that board that are relevant to the event, which will help create buzz and get more attendees.

3. Fill out your profile. Make sure your profile contains relevant information about your business – including your website – and including key words that will help boost your search engine rankings and make it easier for pinners to find you.

Are any of our readers actively using Pinterest? What are your thoughts? Has it increased traffic to your business website? We’d love for you to leave us a comment below!

Statistics are still in favor of men. Women entrepreneurs only make 55% of what men do, and when it comes to startup sales numbers, their businesses only have 11% of that share.

There are few safety nets for entrepreneurs as compared with your conventional employee. Below are 5 things that women business owners need to make sure they are doing to take care of themselves financially:

1. Health Insurance. This really is a dealbreaker. If you can’t afford monthly health insurance, then you shouldn’t go into business. Otherwise, having any kind of serious illness or accident could result in hospital bills that will bankrupt your family. It just isn’t worth the risk. You can shop around on Google for high-deductible, low monthly payment policies that will cover major disasters like emergency surgery or car accidents. Your local Chamber of Commerce will also be able to point you towards affordable plans. The worst case scenario is that you hold out until 2013 – that’s when President Obama’s Affordable Care Act will become active, making healthcare more affordable for entrepreneurs.

2. Plan For Retirement. Save, save, save should be your mantra. I know it’s tempting to dip into your 401(k) when you start your business, but it’s better to borrow money in this case. Because once your retirement funds are gone, you can’t replenish them through borrowing. You may want to think about opening a SEP-IRA which will let you save huge chunks of money and is tax-deferred. If you’re unsure about your options, consulting a CPA should give you a good idea as to what your best move will be.

3. Be Wise When You Borrow. I shouldn’t need to say that you should shop around for the lowest interest rates…that’s a given. But other options besides credit cards and taking out a second mortgage is getting a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan from the bank (they gave $30 billion in loans last year.). Also, the White House has formed the Startup America initiative, which has programs designed to help entrepreneurs obtain loans and find business mentors.

4. Pay Taxes Each Quarter. More than likely, companies that pay you won’t withhold for taxes, so to avoid a hefty payment at the end of the fiscal year, it’s best to pay them quarterly. Luckily, as a self-employed entrepreneur, you can also deduct a load of expenses. Here’s what you can deduct: “half the Social Security and Medicare taxes, all of your health insurance premiums, business travel expenses, office supplies and equipment, and (sometimes) home office expenses.” It’s a pretty hefty list. [source]

5. Hire a CPA. This will save you from drowning in mountains of paperwork that you will never understand. The only way to find one is to call around and see which CPA has the skill set that matches your needs. You can also check the National Society of Accountants and American Institute of CPAs, which are online directories that will help you find the right person. Another resource is the Accreditation Council for Accountancy and Taxation – they provide a list of questions that help you start this process.

What do you think of this list? Is there anything else I should include? Leave us a comment!

Tweetups are in person meetings organized by Twitter users and serve as a way to get like minded individuals in the same room for a more personal connection. It’s a fantastic way to network with various groups who share your similar interests, and develop relationships with fellow business colleagues, as well as current and potential clients.

How To Find Tweetups

To find a tweetup near your location, go to your Twitter search box and type:

tweetup near:”Washington DC” within:15mi

Type the phrase exactly as is concerning spacing and punctuation. Of course, you can switch out the city and the mileage to make it more relevant to you.

That search will pull up a list of all tweetups located in the DC area. It will even pull up tweetups from users that you aren’t following. This list is a good way to find new people to follow and learn about various events taking place in town.

If you find a tweetup that seems interesting and relevant to you, reach out to the event coordinator with a direct message asking to be included.

What if you can’t find any tweetups?

If you don’t find anything that interests you, you can create a tweetup yourself.  Organizing an industry tweetup is a good way to establish yourself and your business in the community.

Use Twtvite to create your tweetup. This is a separate web application that will link to your Twitter account and allow you to invite all of your followers. Once you create a tweetup, it will track RSVP’s and let you easily manage the details of your event.

For entrepreneurs who use on demand workplaces, tweetups are a great way to put a face to your company and make personal connections with your consumers. If you perceive tweetups as a necessary networking tool, you can gain valuable exposure for your business.

Have any of you been to a tweetup or hosted one? Share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment below – we’d love to hear what you think!