Bill Bryan, a counselor with the Northern Illinois SCORE, gives some advice:

The ultimate key to small business success is finding a niche that is not covered. If you can identify your own niche, you’ll probably do well. We are all trying to do business in an overcrowded marketplace and soft economy. The consumer is inundated with commercial messages and often does not know which way to turn. Too many choices and too many sellers compete for a buyer’s attention. It’s enough to make some folks say, “To heck with it” and stay home with their consumer dollars.

Finding a market niche — which you must defend by operating superbly and providing customer service without peer — is the secret for financial success.

When a successful baseball player was asked for the secret to his constant batting success, he replied, “I hit ‘em where they ain’t.”

SCORE has a wonderful device for teaching small business owners, or potential small business owners, many of the lessons they must absorb if they are to be successful. SCORE calls these lessons “60-Second Guides.” They can be found at www.score.org/guides. html.