Social networking, community building, global interactivity, and mass collaboration: They’re all part of the phenomenon called Web 2.0. But how can entrepreneurs tap into this technology-fueled mind shift?

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The college campus, it turns out, can be an ideal incubator for birthing small businesses.

Nanina’s Gourmet Sauce, a pasta sauce company based in Belleville, N.J., was started, for instance, in 2005 by students taking an entrepreneurship course at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J. Nanina’s products are now sold in nearly 400 supermarkets and gourmet shops in New Jersey and Manhattan, and the company’s director of operations is 23-year-old Nick Massari, one of the students in that class.

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While joblessness is on the upswing and reports show that employers shed jobs in March, new data reveal that small firms are hiring.

"It has to be tough to grow a business in this economic climate. It’s like being a goldfish swimming upstream into a fire hose," said Michael Alter, president of payroll processing sure SurePayrool. "Yet, despite the odds against them, the SurePayroll small business scorecard data shows definitively that small businesses have been increasing their payrolls."

Alter pegs the data to three factors:

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The only thing that separates anyone from these successful entrepreneurs listed below is the belief in oneself. Anyone can become whatever they want to be, when they believe in themselves and work towards that goal. Many of these entrepreneurs and others have invented new products and services that touch each of our lives everyday. Many of them donate to charities and believe in empowering the people of the world.

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. . .small business owners can increase business if they become more aggressive about staying ahead of the competition.

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Asking venture capitalists (VCs) for great startup ideas is a little like asking Curt Schilling what pitch he’s going to throw next. When we posed the question to dozens of VCs and investors around the country, more than a few indignantly shot back, "Are you out of your mind?"

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Securing financing for your business means taking risks and making mistakes. Growth strategies are often fraught with mistakes and misfires. So what are some of the most common strategic errors I’ve seen fellow entrepreneurs make during my career as a serial entrepreneur, former venture capitalist, and angel

Well, you may simply be the wrong executive to pitch a startup. You may have approached the wrong financing source. Or your timing might be wrong to sell via a mass retailer.

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Poor cash flow can be the death of an otherwise healthy business. If a small business has more obligations than it has cash, it’s in trouble.

"Not managing cash flow is the No. 1 reason that small businesses fail," says Gene Fairbrother, president of MBA Consulting Inc. in Coppell, Texas.

Simply put, cash flow is the money flowing in and out of your business. If, for any length of time, your business takes in less money than it spends to produce and sell goods, it suffers from poor cash flow.

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Flawed statistics may make entrepreneurs’ prospects look worse than they are, Numerous studies have looked at small-business failure rates over the past 30 years. Unfortunately, the results are often contradictory or vague. Getting good data on small, privately held companies — and interpreting it accurately — isn’t easy because they don’t have to report their financial results.

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How would you like to have your own board of advisors? A group of people you can go to for advice every time you come across an area you’re a bit shaky on. Sound good?

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