Research has found that less than 50 percent of start-ups survive four years, and only 35 percent make it to seven years. Given the grim economic times, does it make financial sense to launch a business? Absolutely, say Ed Hess and Charles Goetz, coauthors of So, You Want to Start a Business? 8 Steps to Take Before Making the Leap (available at Amazon.com).

According to these two business development, start-up failures are more a reflection of the owners’ inability to properly run a business than of the actual market for small businesses. “If you’ve done your homework and you’re truly committed, don’t let either the statistics or the bad economy stop you,” says Goetz, a Distinguished Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. “If a business owner doesn’t make the right decisions, he or she can fail under the best of circumstances.”

Here are three killer mistakes to avoid during the business development process, excerpted from So, You Want to Start a Business?:

1. Choosing a bad business opportunity. The hardest lesson for eager entrepreneurs to learn is that having a great idea for a business doesn’t equate to a good business opportunity. Learning the distinction will greatly improve your chances of success. Here’s how to recognize a good business opportunity: (1) It satisfies existing customer needs, and (2) customers are willing to pay for satisfying those needs. Too many businesses fail simply because the entrepreneur doesn’t take the necessary steps to ensure he or she is pursuing a good opportunity.

2. Pursuing the wrong customers. All too often, business owners try to sell their products to people who don’t need them, resulting in wasted time and money. To be successful you have to win the match game — you have to align the right customers with the right products or services. And the key to finding your customers is figuring out what need your product or service relieves. You’ll have to do some research — market surveys and focus groups are two great options. Knowing which customer base you should target will help you save money in marketing and advertising, provide more enhanced product or service design, and increase sales.

3. Failing to hire the right people. Running a business is all about people. You do business with people (customers) and through people (employees). If you start a business that will require you to hire employees, your success will depend on how your employees treat customers and how well they do their jobs. When hiring, your No. 1 objective should be to select people with the right attitude, high standards, a track record of success, and integrity. Don’t make skill level your primary focus. Skills can be taught, but you cannot teach character and drive.

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