Entrepreneurs: 6 ways to avoid risk

4.    Leave nothing to chance. Accept nothing on faith. To ensure business success, you must learn to rely on yourself. Protect the investment you are making into your business.

5.    Talk to people in your industry. Seek the advice of numerous businesspeople. In your pursuit of profit, your aim is to minimize, reduce or eliminate risk.

6.    Make sure you can turn a profit. Estimate your profits to make sure they're large enough. And do what you can to minimize or control losses.

When people say they can "afford to lose" a certain amount of money, you can be sure of one thing: They're going to lose it. The very willingness to lose money seems to assure that it will be lost. Learning how not to lose money is the first step on your way to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

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Brian Tracy is the CEO of Brian Tracy International, which specializes in business training, and the author of the best-selling Psychology of Achievement. For more information, go to www.briantracy.com.