Starting your own business? Here’s how to stay one step ahead.

There’s nothing more exciting – and terrifying – than starting your own business for the first time. Luckily, you are walking a path that many others have walked before you, and there is some failsafe advice to follow. Here are our top five tips for first-time business owners:

Choose one passion
Yes, you might think that you could start one business with three different elements to it, or launch a new product that has an auxiliary product attached, but the truth is that the more focused you are, the more likely you will be to make this one business thrive.
Keep it lean
No matter how much funding you have, or how many times you think you’ve budgeted your finances, keep your spending and your start-up costs as lean as possible. Don’t weigh down a new business with heavy rental costs, expensive customer lunches or new equipment. That will come later.
Stick to your strengths
You are no doubt very good at one thing – which is why you’ve chosen to start a business around this one thing. Make sure you have the right people on your team who are good at all the other things that aren’t your forte. Especially make sure you have a good finance and accounting person you can turn to whenever you have any sticky questions about money, and who will keep your books in order right from the start.
Keep flexible
No matter how thorough your business plan is, change is going to happen – you can depend on that. When the rug is pulled out from under you – because of the economy, or a change in the market, or for some other as-yet-unknowable reason – how are you going to cope? Keep flexible and focused on the end goal, and it will be a lot easier to stay standing.
Remember your mission
It’s always a good idea to write a clear mission statement when you first start a business – a statement that reflects why you are doing what you are doing, and why you care about it. Check back on this mission statement every few months, and see if you’re still on course. It’s easy to get sidelined when things get busy, and important to stay true to your vision and mission.

Do you have any other essential tips for first-time entrepreneurs to remember?