So, my wife has a (very small) retail clothing store, started about 15 years ago. Since then, she has compared notes with many other owners of retail stores.

So, my wife has a (very small) retail clothing store, started about 15 years ago. Since then, she has compared notes with many other owners of retail stores. The number one feature that is shared by those who are still in business five years later, is not taking on a bunch of debt. There is a cycle: spend, see results, learn from that. If you take on a bunch of debt, it's like you're doing all the spending at first, then getting the results, then doing the learning (for your "our startup went bust, here's what we learned" blog post). In a way, a business loan is sort of like a waterfall software project. Don't do that. Do agile. Rent a small space, probably subleasing from somebody else, and see what works. Then do more of what works. It is harder at first, but a lot of people who take out big loans, don't realize how much they don't know yet, and spend the money on all the wrong things. What are the right things? It depends on your market, your product type, your customers, and therefore the best way to find it out is to do it on a small scale and watch carefully what works.