The harsh reality is that one out of every four women fail in business. If you think that’s bad: Four of every five men fail in business.

There are various ways to look at these statistics.

One could assume that if you try several businesses, one of them will work.

However, there are some people who are not cut out to work for themselves. Maybe you have too many family obligations. Maybe in your religion every day is a sabbath. Maybe you’re too addicted to television to accomplish anything besides your 40-hour-a-week job. That’s all OK. Hopefully you can be aware of the potential risks and benefits.

I had an unemployed friend. He used to be a ski mechanic at a big sports shop. He and I talked a bit. I ended up renting him some bench space in one of my retail stores. His rent was $80/week. He put a paper sign in the window, and sure enough he had some ski tune-up customers come in on the first day. He took the profit from the day and bought himself a nice pair of cowboy boots. At that moment, I knew he was doomed. During the rest of the week, he could have invested in some advertising, some more equipment or inventory, but he did not. He took friends to dinner, he lent some money to his girlfriend, he bought custom wheels for his car. At the end of the first week, he did not have his $80 bench rent. I gave him some leeway on the rent, but he knew himself well enough to realize it wouldn’t work out, so he declined my offer for the second week.

As your author, I don’t want to give you unrealistic expectations. So, please understand that you may read about a business you could start. Everything seems fine, but after a while you’ll discover it isn’t working. In my opinion, that’s fine. One has to experiment to break out of the trap. And if you do fail, just pick up and try something else.

Now here’s the good advice: Don’t put your whole life’s savings into a business. Don’t quit your job until you have something that’s assured up and running well. Most of the businesses discussed here can be started with little money, and in your spare time. Even if your business is wildly successful right out of the box – which does happen sometimes, you can always expand it slowly and carefully.

I knew a guy who owned a small camera store. He had one Hasselblad, a very expensive camera, in stock. It sold. He bought five more, not realizing that the sale was a fluke. It took him over a year to recover his investment in the five Hasselblads. He almost lost everything.

Be prepared for failure, a natural component of eventual success. Expand slowly and carefully!

A guy named Louie, who’s big ambition in life was to become a millionaire. got this idea to hire handicapped people to assemble a product he invented. It was a very nice arrangement, but when he used up his supplier’s inventory of parts, he went bankrupt. He then started a commission business selling sports equipment. He spent a lot on advertising, but the business just sat there making no money. He went bankrupt again. He came across a restaurant that was going out of business. He bought all their equipment, and sold it at a profit. That became the idea behind his third business: Buying and selling restaurant equipment. Now, Louie is a multi-millionaire.

I counseled a fellow who was similar to Louie in that his goal in life was to become a millionaire. I asked him why. He said it was because he wanted a big house. I asked him why he wanted a big house. He said ‘because then, I can have a cat.’

“So what you really want is a cat,” I responded.

He thought for a moment, then he said, “Yes, that would make me very happy.”

I asked, “What stops you from having a cat?”

“My landlord,” was his answer.

Then, thinking it over, he suddenly smiled became quite animated. “Hey, I don’t need to go through all that. All I have to do is find another apartment where cats are allowed!”

He did just that. Two months later, he had his cat and was very happy. He was then able to focus on a business idea that would be fun, but not necessarily a fast track to a million dollars. A few years went by. He is now a millionaire, and he still has his cat – and a wife, and two children and a big house.