Starting a business is exciting and terrifying at the same time. After an initial period of success, mysteriously many business start to flounder during critical growth years. With these tips, you can make plant the seeds that will ensure that your startup achieves long-lasting growth.

1. Get Advice from Successful Startups

By talking to successful business owners, you can avoid rookie mistakes. By getting advice from more experienced business owners, you don't have to learn these lessons the hard way.

Marketing has always been one of the vital parts of every business. Modern times have lead to an even bigger influence of advertising strategies on business success. When you are ready to jump-start your marketing career, two things are crucial. Firstly, you have to make a strong commitment to your work. Secondly, you can take some shortcuts to the top, but you need to be able to recognize them.

Ever stay awake at night as a business owner and worry about things?

While the answer to that question is likely yes, you do have more control than you probably think.

One area that inevitably falls into the “worry” category for many business owners is their cash flow. In these especially trying times for many consumers, it is not uncommon to find people tightening their wallets and purses to a degree. As a result, the business owner sees less cash coming into his or her business.

In today's internet-based economy, your business needs the best website it can afford. But what if you feel the need for a champagne website on a beer budget? Although they may take a little time and effort on your part, there are ways to get what you need without going into debt.

Many new business owners are so busy working on the day-to-day operations, that they neglect the importance of building an online presence. Whether you operate out of a home office, brick-and-mortar location, or exclusively online you need to build a reputation for your brand. As the world becomes more digitally dependent, the best means of reputation building is through Internet marketing strategies.

SaaS is a new vision of how modern business uses the technology. Now an application is not to be bought up front. Then installed and managed on your own as software as a service concept allows user just subscribe, log in and use it wherever they are and whatever they do. The only one condition is having an Internet access.

Big data is a hot buzzword these days! But many laymen and framework designers often have a difficult time conceptualizing what it means. To get the definition and concept out of the way, big data is an amount of data and information which is so massive in scope that it cannot be processed by traditional means. Most 'big data' will take up a minimum of 1 exabyte, which is well over 1 million terabytes of information.

When you stop and think about it, how proud are you of your business website?

For many business owners, their websites are the bread and butter of their operations.

With a solid website, one can build a business that has unlimited potential. With a so-so website, missed opportunities (including an enhanced revenue stream) are oftentimes part of the picture.

Well, the clock is always ticking in our biz/lives. This time I'd love to draw your attention to an important countdown. You have only 6 days until Wednesday (March 29) to vote for the ultimate winner of the 20th Anniversary Small Business Grant, if you haven't already done so. This is your last chance to support your favorite business idea and help them win the Grant.

Since this round was open, the finalists have received significant support from their devotees. They have demonstrated willingness to reach new highs. They are the most proactive business owners who do not leave winning the grant to chance. During the competition, they've shown us an inventive business approach which will certainly inspire others who come to IdeaCafe seeking advice on starting and running a business.

Every business owner makes mistakes, but some mistakes are harder and more expensive to bounce back from. In particular, there are six areas you don't want to make mistakes in as a business owner.

Hiring The Wrong People for Key Roles

A common mistake for business owners is hiring the wrong person. It leads to lower company morale and higher employee churn. And can also slow down your growth. If you're looking to hire someone critical, then use an HR consultant or a staffing firm.