Everyone says that starting a business is "hard." Well, it can be hard for everyone else, but it doesn't have to be for the over 10 million Americans who plan their startup each year. Start On Purpose is the best resource-the bible to help startup business owners and freelance entrepreneurs get ahead before they fall behind. When entrepreneurs and business owners Start On Purpose, important decisions will come easier, first customers will come faster, board members and funding sources will want to support the business, and dreams of leading a successful company will become more real. More opportunities will open up to the business all because the owner will know where to find them and how to pursue them with confidence. Start On Purpose really works. This empowering book is based on venture finance expert and entrepreneurship educator Susan Schreter's eight years of field and academic research on the most common issues, misunderstandings, surprises, regrets, and legal gotchas that confront high-tech and low-tech entrepreneurs during their first years in business - essentially everything that makes starting a business so hard and frustrating. In Schreter's groundbreaking research, the reasons why one-third of startups fail during the first two years of operations is not due to the quality of a young company's products or services, but surprisingly to lapses in startup leadership, financial management, and attention to administrative issues. Too many mistakes-that could easily be avoided-drain a startup's precious cash resources and operating credibility with first customers, lenders, investors and partners. The book's action-list approach to startup management is highly recommended by venture capitalists, leading entrepreneurship educators, technology incubators and more. The book is also used as a teaching tool in Small Business Administration SCORE offices throughout the United States. With Start On Purpose's comprehensive action step format, entrepreneurs will know what to do first, second and third on a broad range of issues that matter to startups: business structure selection, fast revenue generation, product pricing, business model testing, branding, promotions, partnership agreements, stock issuances, trademarks and patents, legal issues, employee management, licensing, taxes and more. Start On Purpose will help entrepreneurs and new business owners master the fine points of finance, talking to investors, and managing cash. They will learn about the 4 Milestones of Financial Safety, how to make a great business idea more lucrative, 3 Characteristics of Super Valuable Companies, and how to manage a business so that it can grow to be worth two, four or ten times what entrepreneurs invest in it. Entrepreneurs will also learn how to stand up for their better judgment even when they may be pressured to do otherwise. Start On Purpose book features:  Over 300 easy-to-implement action steps  Convenient workbook size for ongoing easy reference  "Extra Financial Empowerment" to increase financial know-how  "Extra Startup Intelligence" to help avoid common beginner's mistakes  Bonus FAQs Look for the upcoming documentary, called "Start On Purpose" to support nationwide book sales and distribution.