What I'd wished I'd known and recommend that others realize these lessons now: (1) ASAP quit being an employee and, instead, be a sole proprietor who owns his

What I'd wished I'd known and recommend that others realize these lessons now: (1) ASAP quit being an employee and, instead, be a sole proprietor who owns his own business. Advantages: (A) Can't be fired due to office politics. (B) Guaranteed to win in any office politics fights. (C) Unless the business really is a total disaster, guaranteed to still have a job. (2) Pick a business with a strong barrier to entry. The three best barriers: (A) Geographical. Want a business where all competition is within 50 miles, that is, no business more than 50 miles away is a competitor. So, Don't want to compete with Amazon, Dell, Cisco, Microsoft, Google, GE, Citi, Wal-Mart, some company in China, the Middle East, etc. Examples: Fast food, gas station and convenience store, grass mowing and landscaping, roofing, kitchen/bath renovation, auto repair, auto body repair, pediatrics, dermatology, dentistry, some big-truck little truck businesses (buy merchandise in large quantities with a big truck and sell it in small quantities from little trucks -- may become increasingly vulnerable to Amazon, etc.), bakery selling fancy cakes, with customer decoration, maybe with a lot of whipped cream that doesn't ship well, Chinese carry-out, French bistro, Italian red sauce restaurant. Doing well running four franchised fast food restaurants can be fine -- doing well with 10 can do still better. E.g., I know a guy in NYS in the US running 4 Burger King locations; he's from Turkey, still doesn't speak English very well, needs a bath, a shave, and some clean, neat clothes, is great with people, and is doing well. (B) Can't be Automated. (C) Legally needs a professional license. (3) Cross Section of Local Economy. Want a business with many small customers across a large cross section of the local economy so that if the local economy is doing anything at all then can still have an okay business; this likely means no one customer provides more than 1% of the revenue. (4) Small, Medium Town Try to locate in a small or medium sized town. Advantages: (A) Real estate costs much less, and can buy and own a house in a rural location without too much driving to business locations. (B) Easier to build the brand name you need. (C) Taxes lower. Regulations fewer. To ease regulatory approvals, can know the people on the Town Council and the Zoning Board and the local people holding elective office. (D) Usually better environment for having a family. (E) If the economy gets really sick, can then just retire to rural house and get most of food from own garden. (F) Have a shot at having nearly a local monopoly, say, dry cleaning, coin laundry. (G) Can have spouse, kids help in the business -- big advantages here. (H) Have various ways to save on taxes.