"Be creative", most people fail because of avoidable mistakes. A great piece of advice, if you can learn what those mistakes are you should also be able to learn how to avoid them in the process. Here are the rules, and there is only one "Be creative".

There are advantages and pitfalls in operating a business you start in your home while still working at your current job. It seems however more often than not, the advantages outweigh the risks. Important advantages like, you can avoid loss of earnings including retirement, health and fringe benefits and vacations. Your full-time job won't suffer if you can separate your job and business into completely separate worlds. You can avoid some of the conflicts with your job by choosing a business that is appropriate and best fits your skill set, such as online products, real estate, nutritional supplements, e-commerce, direct marketing or even family-run operations.

f you are a family based home business the family can run the business while you are at work so you have a built-in organizational structure. You can teach your kids the benefits of being in business. Just make sure you avoid the mental and physical exhaustion, this is a real problem for home business entrepreneurs.

If you have not yet selected a business, take your time. It is important to find the business that is right for you. The selection process takes a lot of planning and your experience and complete knowledge is vital for your success and don't tackle or pursue businesses that may be too challenging. It is better to identify a one-foot hurdle than try to jump a seven-footer. Try to identify a business that has long-term economic potential. Follow Wayne Gretzky's advice, "Go to where the puck is going, not to where it is."

Specialists do better than non-specialists. Wouldn't you be more inclined to take your German sports car to a mechanic who knows German cars rather than to a general mechanic who has never worked on one? And aren't you willing to pay a bit extra for someone who is not going to learn how to work on German cars on your car the answer is yes.

Make sure you find a business that will grow in today's and tomorrow's markets. And follow the advice of Chairman Warren Buffett, of Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. and the most successful business picker in American history. Mr. Buffett looks for businesses that focus on a "consumer monopoly" with pricing power and long-term predictable growth prospects.

Here are two books that will give you invaluable insights into how Mr. Buffett selects businesses in which to invest. You can copycat these basic principles to help select your own business, BUFFETTOLOGY by Mary Buffett and David Clark and THE WARREN BUFFETT WAY by Robert G. Hagstrom, Jr.

Always stay away from commodity businesses or you will find yourself in a situation where you must compete on price. To quote Warren Buffett, "In a commodity type business you're only as smart as your dumbest competitor.