If I'd Only Known... What no one ever told me about running a business

Business ownership is full of surprises. No matter howthoroughly you plan before launching your venture or how muchprevious business experience you have, something unexpected alwayscrops up. These surprises are part of the fun and challenge ofentrepreneurship, many business owners say.

In the 10 years I've been writing about small business,I've been struck by how often seasoned entrepreneurs,remembering their start-up, say, "If I knew then what I knownow, I would have done such-and-such differently."Wouldn't it be great, I thought, to share these lessons soother start-up business owners could avoid painful and costlysurprises?

In thousands of interviews with successful business owners,recurring themes emerged, 101 of which appear in my new book,What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business(Upstart Publishing, $17.95, 800-245-2665). The following 10lessons are among the first you should heed as you venture into thewonderful world of business ownership: