Business Mistake #2: Not having enough start-up capital.

Let's face it, starting up a doll or other business can be horrifically and prohibitively expensive.

Costs add up quickly. The business license and other legalities (including, for example, setting up a corporation) are just the beginning. For  a brick and mortar store, you've got rent to consider, and also fixtures like display cases, counters and props, and little details like carpeting and inventory.. Then there are promotional costs like business cards and other advertising.

Even with just a web business, you've still got ISP costs, advertising costs and also of course the inventory costs. If you can't be your own webmaster, you've got those costs too.

Inventory costs can be huge. You've got to have enough selection to attract business and keep people interested, which means getting in new inventory on a regular basis.

If you don't have enough startup money to stay in business for a few months until you can grow a customer base, you've got trouble.

We were incredibly fortunate when we started up Dolls and Friends. Leo had worked at Microsoft for enough years, and we had enough stock options, to make opening the store possible.  Of course the joke was that "Uncle Bill" had given us the money. We probably opened the store with $50,000 sunk into inventory alone, and that was in 1994. Now, I think it would be even more expensive. Our other big advantage is that Leo could do all the accounting/inventory software and was also the webmaster. Like me, he wore a lot of hats for Dolls and Friends over the years and worked cheap too.

Most people aren't lucky enough to have an "Uncle Bill" or a Leo. I consider myself blessed to have had both, and honestly sympathize with everyone who would like to have their own retail business but just can't figure out a way to make it happen.