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with your wife. This calls for a little bit of research and a lot of imagination. Do the research yourself, don't ask your wife to do it.

At this point, it is usually necessary to spend some of your money on the new business. It doesn't matter where or how at the moment. Tell yourself and your wife it is an investment in your future. Correct phrasing for this is "Honey, it is an investment in our future." Support this announcement with a generous bouquet of roses. She may not believe you, but she will accept the roses.

Week 3

If the idea has survived this long, you are well on your way to success. Work out a budget. Add up everything that you own, subtract what you absolutely need to survive, and plan on overextending yourself for the next five years. It is much easier to borrow money from a bank at this point, while you are just starting out fresh. The reasons for this are many:

1) Hopefully, you are still gainfully employed and have an income.
2) You have not yet dumped your entire life savings into your business, thus, you have collateral.
3) If you own or are buying your house, you then have some equity in the property. That way, the bank is assured that if you no longer have an income, and no longer have any cash, they at least will have a piece of real estate to sell.

Take all your budget numbers to the bank. Work out some sort of income projection for your new business. The general practice for this is to "pull numbers out of thin air". Banks like projections. Maybe they just like to see how quickly they are going to own another piece of property.

After sweating out an afternoon at the bank - pleading and groveling do not work - it is quite often good therapy to relax. Take your wife out to dinner. Save the receipt; you can count it as a business expense. Make a mental note: from now on, save every receipt you can. Pick them up off the floor at the grocery store. Ask for them at convenience stores and gas stations. Steal them from your neighbor's trash. Get a receipt for everything.

When you hire an accountant, he or she can figure out which ones you can claim and which ones you can't. You should argue loudly and logically for keeping the ones they want to throw out. You may just win on a few.

Week 4

This is a good time for some reflection. Look deep into your heart and soul, ask yourself "just what the hell do you think you're doing?" If the answer to this is "I have no idea", then you are ready to proceed with your business venture.

Begin talking about your business

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