Don't Just Survive...<I>Thrive</I> You're an entrepreneur. Let's celebrate!

On a day like today, when it's raining outside and I know the freeways will be a mess, it can be tough to get out of bed-particularly when I know I've got a full day ahead and a lot of work to get done, and no guarantee that any of it will be easy. Staying under the covers can sound like a pretty attractive option at that early hour. You probably know that feeling well as an entrepreneur. And I don't just mean feeling like you want to hide under the covers on certain days. When you're new to entrepreneurship, struggling to make ends meet and learn how to run a successful business, every day can seem like a challenge.

That's true whether you've been in business for 10 years or 10 minutes, but when you're a start-up, those first few months of business ownership are often the toughest. We talk about this concept in "Surviving Your First Year," where we provide you with several ways to muddle through and come out ahead. As many of the entrepreneurs we talked to for this article illustrate, it's possible to survive that first year, as long as you take the necessary steps to get the job done.