7. Develop your portal site with free or low cost tools. Some of web tools can be found at DollarTemplates.com. Hire a freelance consultant or offshore consultant to work on your portal project. It is much cheaper than hiring a full service consulting firm.

8. Develop your portal site structure and service offers. For instance, a B2B portal should include Storefronts and optional classifieds, auctions, and request for quotes (RFQ’s) serve their needs. Community features should have online polls, mailing list management, real-time news feed. They provide a highly profitable and competitive offering in most vertical portals. User personalization can also make your portal "sticky."

9. Manage your finance efficiently. Forget about free lunches or parties. Start with solid budget plans and spend your money wisely and carefully. Market your portal site by forming strategic alliances with other websites rather than spending hard-earned cash.

10. Many startups fail because of their poor management. If you want to start with low risk and low budget, consult with freelance consultant rather than hiring a consulting firm. Freelance consultants offer services and expertise at very reasonable rates. If you think about seeking venture capital to jump-start or strengthen your project, you may get a sample plan "B2B DotCom Startup Company Business Plan and Executive Summary" at B2B Resources Center at http://www.SmarTechLab.com/b2b.htm. However, it is very difficult for a dotcom startup to get VC funding now.

11. Partner with other startups or businesses to strengthen market presence. Many smaller portals are willing to team up with other portal sites to create a network presence on World Wide Web. Simply ask other portals and it would not hurt you at all!

In conclusion, it has never been easy to build a sound and successful dotcom operation, but keep your dream alive by working hard and working smart. Money will eventually be pouring in.

Jim, on other hands, talks to several landscaping experts. He draws out on paper what he wants his yard to look like, carefully grouping plants to give year-round beauty. He goes to a couple of different nurseries and purchases best plants and lawn care products. He buys an oak tree for his back yard. He plants his purchases and follows directions and advice he has been given to care for his lawn. He works on it a little bit every day, and slowly builds it to a prize-winning yard.

Year after year, John has an ugly lawn because he doesn't want to put in time and effort it takes to build a well-kept yard.

Thirty years later, Jim's yard is still best looking yard on block, and his grandkids are building a tree house in oak tree in back yard.

What kind of a business are you building? Are you looking for fast buck? Are you joining everything and anything you can without any careful planning as to how it all fits together? Are you sitting back just waiting for everyone to come, buy your products, and make you a millionaire without any effort on your part?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then all you're going to get is a yard full of ugly weeds and dirt holes.

Take some time and put together a business plan. Figure out where you want to be in 30 years. Talk to experts to find out what works and what doesn't. Work a little bit every day taking care of your business.

If you do these things, your business may grow slowly, but it will grow solidly. Your business will be able to withstand storms that come along. And in 30 years, you and your family will still be enjoying what you've built.