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There’s a million small bits of advice that you’re going to need when creating your own startup. Sometimes, legally, you’re required to have a board of directors. But even if you’re not, Carolyn Kepcher advises that you do it anyway.

She says:

“Assemble a group of knowledgeable friends, colleagues and associates who are willing to meet with you from time to time to look at your plans, review your decisions and act as general advisers to your enterprise.”

What amazing advice. I love this.

For example, you might not be aware of the fact that you can use Internet fax instead of a fax machine, but someone on your board of advisers, might. You might not know that you can save money using Gmail instead of buying Microsoft Outlook. You might be thinking of renting a somewhat expensive property, when one of your board knows someone with something cheaper.

The list of potential good advice to be given by a group of knowledgeable business people goes on and on. Don’t feel like you must rely on your knowledge and understanding alone. There’s so many people out there willing to help you build your enterprise. You just need to ask. And the results can be miraculous.

I’m sure that Carolyn Kepcher, the famous star of the Donal Trump’s “The Office,” would never be caught waiting at a fax machine. Such antiquated practices have been replaced by Internet faxing; I’m sure she’d be the

She’s got some great advice to those of you creating a startup. She’s a strong proponent of networking and creating relationships. But she gives a caution.

Like dating you don’t want to go in too strong, scaring away the potential relationship. You want to give the relationship time to grow before approaching the person with serious commitments. She says:

“When introduced to somebody who might be able to help you, start a dialogue, get to know the person and help him or her get to know you a bit. Only when a relationship is formed should you begin to talk about your business ideas, pose questions or ask for help. If you jump in too quickly, you may turn the person off and lose his/her help altogether.”

She also points out that this person might in fact be a potential competitor. You don’t want to reveal information that they could use to their benefit, leaving you out of the loop.

You’ve got a great plan to run your new startup in the most cost-efficient manner. No need for an office. Everything will be online. You’ve got Internet fax. You’re ready to go.

Oh wait! Even though costs are low, you still will need to raise some money. As Carolyn Kepcher, the former start of Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice” points out, “This is always the hard part.”

In her recent article at msnbc.com she describes the seeking of money from what is typically called, “angel” investors, or in other words, friends and family. She says:

“When asking them for money, make sure of one thing: They can afford to lose whatever funds they decide to give you . . . If the company goes belly-up, you certainly do not want to be responsible for losses that might have an adverse effect on their lives.”

She then follows this up by suggesting that you invest your own money in your business. But she emphasizes that it shouldn’t be so much that you won’t have the necessities of your lifestyle. You don’t need to add the stress of paying your bills with the stress of starting a new business.

Regardless of how you raise your money, do it honestly and openly, with the understanding that like any investment, you may not get your money back. If everyone understands this, everyone will be more than pleased when you business is a huge success.

From time to time, aside from info about Internet faxing, I’ve discussed various small business news and advice here. As I was looking for useful info to relate, I found this incredible article by Carolyn Kepcher on starting your own new business.

You may remember this writer as one of the three menacing business executives on Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice.”  She is now the co-founder and CEO of Carolyn & Co. Media.

She outlines 10 basic things that you must have in your business. They are:

1. Passion
2. Network
3. Knowledge
4. Strategic partners
5. Raising money
6. Contribute what you can afford
7. Relationships
8. Take it slow
9. Informal board of directors
10. Computer and Internet savvy

For the next ten days I’ll be expounding on her advice on each of the ten topics. As I read through her explanations of each, they sounded really basic and in many cases really obvious. I mean, of course you need to have passion for your business idea.

But then I remember back to one of my very first entrepreneurial experience where some friends of mine and I started a window cleaning business. It seemed like a good opportunity. But as we got into the regular struggles of running a business we realized that we kind of hated washing windows.

So it was a rookie mistake, but I know that a lot of you are passionate about starting a business, yet need Kepcher’s advice. I hope it’s useful.