Look at Other Successful Businesses There's a wealth of wisdom in the adage, "Don't reinvent the wheel."

Far too many entrepreneurs exhaust hours of effort in a vainattempt to build a better mousetrap. It's been done! A farbetter strategy is to look for a successful concept that you canlearn from and adapt to your market's needs. Although you haveto be careful not to infringe on any patent, trademark, copyright,or other form of legal protections, there are countless examples ofshrewd entrepreneurs who have made significant money by coming upwith their own version of a currently successful product orservice.

Excerpted from Starting a Home-based Business