"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life through conscious effort." Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

A leap or dive is no sport for the fearful heart. Both demand unflinching grit. Starting your own business demands no less courage or determination. And, may I add, calculation and execution.

Brace up as you peruse the following inspiring figures. According to 2004 statistics available from the Office of Advocacy of the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA), there were almost six million thriving small businesses in the continental United States.

You could join them. Frantz Fanon says whatever the mind of man can conceive the man can achieve. People behind those thriving businesses are not very significantly different from you, except in one thing: they took the plunge against all odds.

Below are steps you could follow to ensure success in business.

1. Evaluate your Entrepreneurial Abilities.
A quick grasp of the responsibility of an entrepreneur should prove useful at this point. An entrepreneur is the person who organizes or harnesses the factors of production namely, land, labor, and capital for the purpose of attaining organizational goal. You must be a natural organizer not just of men but also of material things and money, knowing how to achieve the desired mix of the three ms. It was Malcolm Forbes (1919-1990) that once said ability will never catch up to the demand for it.

2. Stay in Your Comfort Zone.
Choosing a business that falls within your area of interest or at which you're naturally skilled or talented would see you thriving relatively better than a venture that's completely alien or far removed from your comfort zone.

3. Identify the Need For The Business Product/Service.
A business making product or service for which there is no need is doomed from the start, no matter how solid the organizational structure or capital base might be.

4. Get Experience.
Successful entrepreneur are usually focused lot. It takes a man of unbending determination to go all out to gain employment in firm operating in the industry he hopes to enter someday, just for the purpose of acquiring skill and experience. Such a man would have leverage over someone coming into the business as a complete greenhorn. Note this: there is no viable alternative to experience. The real competitive business environment is a world apart from the four walls of business colleges.

5. Determine Your

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