After the tinsel, fruit cakes and fast paced holiday season, here you are, left with your New Year's resolutions. But around this time, many prospective entrepreneurs reconsider their resolution of opening a new business. They look at the time and effort needed to start a business and feel overwhelmed. And the reward for doing that hard work appears far away in the distant future.

They procrastinate.

This is just the wrong thing to do. Many business owners do not know the effort is much less if they start up "right." And the rewards from a successful business are closer than they believe. Opening a business, like anything else can be achieved by not reinventing the wheel, but by identifying successful business models and copying them.

Opening a Business: You Don't Have to be Original

We have all heard the caveman logic of "Don't reinvent the wheel." Although this common phrase likely dates from the times of ancient Greece, its simple principle still applies today. Do as successful businesses do, and you will succeed.

But no matter how often you hear it, many business owners resist this idea. They believe they must be "original" to be a success.

This is just not true.

Often professionals view works before them and build on those ideas. For example, a successful novelist begins by reading popular works. An expert web designer researches successful site designs, before building a new one.

Think about it. Dominant businesses put much time and energy towards securing their market share. If you copy their successful methods, you can save money, time, and effort.

If you want to open a business in the New Year, you must study your industry. Seek out the business winners. Find as many candidates as possible then compare what you believe works for them and what doesn't. From this simple exercise you can judge the correct way to do business. It may stretch your original idea into a whole new area, or help you refine your products or services to a narrower demographic. Whatever it produces it will save time and money when opening your new business.

Opening a Business: Modeling is Ethical

First let me define modeling.

Modeling is out-and-out copycatting. Is there anything unethical about copycatting business practices? Nothing at all. Zip. Zilch. There is zero liability when copying how a company runs. The Internet has brought many copycat businesses. As soon as Alta Vista found success, there were literally thousands of copycats competing for the same users and business. And by the way, Google copied and improved on the model and won. It is the way of the marketplace. And you must compete in the marketplace.

Competition aside, I have one final piece of advice as you open your new business. When modeling a business' success, be sure to put your ego aside. At times, our ego leads us astray when it comes to our ventures, ideas, and services. We feel our ideas are the best and no one could do them better or have anything important to say. It is this isolation that can hurt the success of a business. Get help when you need it and identify what works for other businesses.

So before the eggnog settles in your stomach, start planning for the opening of your new business. Studying successful business in your area will lead you down the path toward success.

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Kevin Muir helps new owners start up their businesses easily. Get your free copy of Kevin's downloadable information kit on starting a new business here: http://www.KevinMuir.com/opening-business-coming-year.html