Over the last few weeks I've had the opportunity to discuss entrepreneurism with successful entrepreneurs. I asked each of them one question.

What advice do you have for new entrepreneurs?

I asked this question both for personal knowledge and to parse years of experience into a quick and easy nugget of advice. It's easy to gloss over the advice, but remember, these people have been where you are!

1. Bert Vieira, ACM Group - My advice is very practical, you need to know how to identify opportunities. When you're able to identify a good opportunity, you need to analyze that opportunity. My analysis focuses on calculated risk versus reward and the amount of exposure the opportunity creates. The driving focus needs to be your passion, if you are, or can become, passionate about a well qualified opportunity, believe in yourself. Believe that you can do what needs to be done and get to work!
2. Dr. Aaron Rollins, Elite Body Sculpture - It's important for entrepreneurs to identify opportunities that can not only help individuals and communities but provides some sort of cultural or emotional value. However, the most important advice is to Love What You Do and provide the best level of service and expertise. At Elite Body Sculpture, my goal was to create innovative ways to increase patient comfort and admiration for one's body, while ensuring patients felt cared for and welcomed. Aside from our Patented Airsculpt laser liposculpture technique, much of our success stems from our efforts to integrate the desires of our patients into the work we do. In order to be successful, you have to understand your audience, identify their needs or desires, and unify around their goals and expectations.
3. Luigi Wewege, Vivier Group - My advice for new entrepreneurs is two-fold, and firstly always seek input from others so as to aide you in reaching the best possible decision for your business/start-up. This is due to entrepreneurship for the most part being about taking calculated risks, and you will always create better strategies if more facts and information go into the decision-making process. Secondly, and this may sound overly simplistic, but take the time to step away every so often even if it is a 30 minute walk and you will be pleasantly surprised as to what you can think through while being disconnected from work.
4. Marlon Kobacker, Sustainable Future Group - I recommend that as a new entrepreneur, you first do your market research to identify the fact that there is a unique problem that your product or service seeks to solve. You need to then quantify the current and future market size through the identification of existing and potential competitors, and spend time articulating your point of difference and how you can market that. Next, I would advise you to write a business plan and review it regularly, expanding it and updating it as the business expands. Spend a lot of time selecting and growing the people you take on board. Even if your business is growing rapidly, make sure you're surrounded by people who share the vision in your business plan. Be transparent with the numbers at the early stages of development to allow your hires to personally invest in the business. Take the time to learn how businesses are valued, and track the value of your business should you receive an offer to buy it. Most importantly, make sure you and everyone in the business truly believes in what it has to offer.
5. Brandon Hopkins, DiamondLinks.net - I've found it most helpful to become an expert in something. To be known for being excellent in one area means that you will always be top of mind when someone considers that area. Our world is increasingly specialized and I embrace that. I'm an expert in my field and am well respected. If a client comes to me with a request for which I'm not well suited, I'm happy to refer that client to someone I know is an expert in that area. Many people do the same for me. My area of expertise has narrowed over the last 12 years and now I'm known for performing results-based reputation management and SEO.
6. Mo Howard, Ultegra Financial - As an entrepreneur you're required to know everything about everything. That doesn't mean you need to be an expert, but you do need to know enough to be dangerous. If you can't speak intelligently to developers, human resources, management and recent hires, you might not be a great fit for a new venture. Apart from that, having integrity in everything you do is vital. That's how the name Ultegra Financial Partners came about. Ultegra was a combination of "ultimate integrity" and that's part of what we preach to new employees as well as throughout the company. If you have integrity and work you, you'll succeed!
7. Nancy Behrman, Behrman Communication - would say it is very important to be wholeheartedly committed; ambivalence is no good when going out on your own. While I'm a big advocate for work-life balance, working hard and going the extra mile is almost always necessary, as well as owning and learning from your mistakes. If you hire a team beneath you, make sure to promote with a new title and salary every year. It's so important to value and reward hard work to sustain your growth. I have enjoyed working with some of the greatest PR talent that I've ever seen in the industry, many of whom I've trained and are now my competitors. They were integral to my success.
8. Sam Ovens, OVENS International - My advice for new entrepreneurs involves two critical things: 1). Focus: When you're an entrepreneur you're going against people with more money than you and more manpower than you - the way you beat them is by focusing on one thing and one thing only, never become generic. 2). Hunger: When you're an entrepreneur in the early days it's tough, nobody believes in you including yourself on some days! You will feel sick to your stomach, you will want to cry, you will work harder than you have ever even imagined but guess what? It's all totally worth it. You must have hunger to get through the hard times, that's what keeps you going.
9. David Frank, Placemark Digital - I would recommend either, building up a decent amount of savings, or continuing to work a regular job and building up your business on the side so that you have money to tide you over and a small amount (you don't need much) to invest into business expenses. Pick one service that you're drawn to and become really awesome at that. Then systematize it and make it as straightforward to deliver results as possible. Find places (Facebook business groups are a good place to look) where your ideal customer hangs out. See what questions they're asking about your area of expertise and answer them as thoroughly as you can and offer help to anyone who needs it. Ideally look for clients who have a high average lifetime client value (eg. $1000+). Lastly, the most important thing to focus on is whatever leads to money, usually finding more clients. Messing around with your site / logo or business cards doesn't really matter. Get the basics together if you feel you need to and then go find clients and give them lots of value.

Thank you to each of the successful entrepreneurs who took the time to answer my question!