Imagine for a moment that every time something on your car broke, you had only one solution: Duct tape.

The door handle comes off? Duct tape. The battery dies? Duct tape. The transmission falls apart? Duct tape.

It sounds ridiculous, right? When a vehicle has a serious issue, you make an appointment and take it to a qualified mechanic. They are trained to diagnose the root problem and fix it properly, rather than just slapping a temporary bandage over the symptom.

We live in a time of unprecedented opportunity for business owners.

It has never been easier to sell professional products or services to targeted customers. The tools at our disposal allow for comprehensive research, letting us match our solutions with the exact buyers we can help the most.

But this access to information is both a blessing and a curse.

So many entrepreneurs think business strategy is simply copying what other "successful" companies are doing.

I put "successful" in quotes because most are not as successful as you think. The vast majority of these companies are constantly struggling, always looking for outside investment just to keep the ship afloat. The founders are often moonlighting (many times teaching others) just to pay their own personal bills.