A lot of people have been asking me the same question about my new book, Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By. How can reading the book help someone to become a better entrepreneur?

John Tozzi at Businessweek.com summarizes some of the tips that come from the book in an article entitled “A Better Way to Start a Business.” (Click on tip sheet.) He does a great job highlighting 10 important tips in the book. But I think that there are others. Here are a few:

• Don’t start a business to serve the same or similar customers as your previous employer, with the same or similar products. Studies show that seeking customers other companies have missed enhances the performance of new businesses.
• Don’t under capitalize your business, even if you have to borrow money personally to do this. Studies show that under capitalization is one of the biggest sources of new business failure.
• Put solid financial controls in place when you start. Studies show that businesses with better financial controls are more likely to grow and survive.

There are still more tips in the book. But, hey, I want you to read the book, not just my blogs…

This was a guest post by Scott Shane is A. Malachi Mixon III, Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of seven books, the latest of which is Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Policy Makers Live By. He is also a member of the Northcoast Angel Fund in the Cleveland area and is always interested in hearing about great start-ups. Take the entrepreneurship quiz.

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