Want to Start a Business? Ramit Sethi Has These 5 Rules for You

Get your priorities in line and you can build anything.

One of the best ways to build your personal wealth is to start a successful business. That's why many of our favorite personal finance gurus also have a lot of advice to offer about small businesses.

Ramit Sethi, for instance, has started several businesses over the years. And he's used that experience to help his readers and students learn how to start and build their own businesses.

One of Sethi's methods for getting things done is to create rule sets. His 10 Money Rules helps him keep his finances in order. Well, he also has a few rules for those looking to start a business, and they're all pretty on the nose. Let's take a look.

1. Start small

This first rule is one any financial expert can get behind. You don't try to build a multinational, multimillion dollar company overnight. Every business starts small and has to work its way up. (How many stories are there of major businesses that started in someone's basement or garage?)

In other words, don't wait to start your business because you don't have the means to scale right away. It's perfectly acceptable to start your business as a part-time side hustle and let it scale naturally over time.

2. Stay positive

Starting a business is hard. So it's only natural that we focus -- or, if you're like me, obsess -- over all the things that can and are going wrong. But Sethi says you need to shift your focus to all the things that can go right.

Another common version of this advice is to think about the solutions, not the problems. It's easy to get caught in a spiral of stress and doubt when things start going sideways.

Take a deep breath and turn your attention away from the mistakes or sheer bad luck that led to the problem. Instead, think about all the tools you have at hand to solve the problem so you can move on to the next to-do on your list.

3. Be honest with yourself

There is a big giant universe of difference between wanting to start a business -- and actually starting it. You can plan and plot and daydream all you want. But until you make the first moves to start your business, you're not going to get anywhere.

If you keep finding excuses to not get started, chances are there's something else at the root of your hesitance. Sethi says you need to get really honest with yourself about what's stopping you from getting started.

According to Sethi, there are two common excuses people use to delay starting a business:

• They don't have an idea.
• They don't have the time.

Both of these are flimsy, at best. Don't have an idea? Then look for one. As Sethi likes to say, are you waiting for one to fall from the sky? It doesn't work that way. You need to actively brainstorm to come up with ideas, then test them to find the gems.

And as for not having the time, that's another one Sethi doesn't buy (and I have to say, I agree with him). If something is a priority, a real priority, we make the time. If starting your business is a real priority, you'll find the time to get it started.

4. Dedicate the necessary resources

This rule ties nicely into the previous two. Basically, if you're going to start a business, you need to dedicate the necessary resources -- namely, time and money -- to get it going.

That doesn't mean you need to have everything in place and perfect before you get started. Sethi is clear that you don't need the perfect website or grand offices. You don't even need a business bank account until you're actually making money. You just need a good idea and the means to get it out there.

5. Embrace constraints

Speaking of resources, sometimes (all right, almost all the times) they're limited. Sethi says you should embrace those limits -- and he's absolutely right.

For one thing, space and money restraints force you to get creative with your existing resources. This can help you build a streamlined business with low overhead.

What's that good old saying? "Necessity is the mother of invention." Well, here's another one for you: "It's a marathon, not a race."

Starting a business takes time, money, and lots of proverbial elbow grease. You have to start small and grow -- often slowly -- over time. But if you make your business a priority, dedicate the necessary resources to it, and stay positive, you can build something solid.