In the beginning I was really, really lean. For the longest time I did it all. I played every hat. I was in the factory, doing the graphic design, the photography, the selling - literally everything. I saved money doing what I could myself. It was hard but I learned. I learned that nobody's better than you to get your business off the ground. The experience you get is priceless.

Entrepreneurs: The only people who work 80 hour weeks to avoid working 40 hour weeks.

Not only is a good name catchy and memorable, it should help people understand what your business does. If your name reflects your products or services you'll have a much better chance of being found [via Google search], so it's important to choose wisely.

I prefer to like the people I invest in, but it's not an absolute necessity, as long as they have a good mind and I know they'll do whatever it takes to be successful.

I learned that nobody's better than you to get your business off the ground. The experience you get is priceless.

I always recommend, if you can, to patent or protect whatever your idea is. If you can't, you have to make your best judgment. Sometimes people don't get anywhere because they sit on something, so afraid to reveal it. And yet, in the reverse, sometimes if you expose something too widely, you can risk losing it.

In business it is most often all about getting your foot in the door and once you do, everything opens up and things start to naturally progress into bigger and more opportunities.