This is much more important than you may think. Before I started my own business, I worked for the same company for twelve years. The last six years that I worked there, I tried to save as much money as I possibly could. I cut out ALL unnecessary expenditures and bought only what I absolutely needed to survive. My reasoning was that I needed to save enough money that I could run my home-based business and pay all the bills for two years, even if I didn't make a profit.
Many new businesses fail to budget adequately for advertising.
Some people simply lack the skills and self-discipline to run their own business. If you think you're going to have more freedom and time to kill, think again. When I started my business, I decided it would be beneficial to advertise in the Yellow Pages. Unfortunately, new Yellow Page books didn't come out until May, and I needed exposure right away. Here you will need to do some research on your own.