Your problems are not unique. The first time someone told me this I thought they were insane, but it’s true! Every startup shares the same problems. First and foremost, we all suffer from the issues endemic to new and developing businesses- lack of capital, lack of qualified team members and lack of time to execute across all parts of the company. You are faced with creating the building blocks of a business, building a business model, gaining market acceptance, creating operational capacity and to build the functional areas of a company- sales, marketing, finance, operations, technology, human resources, and the list goes on. This is true whether you are opening a pizza store, launching a clothing line, building an online store or selling jewelry. The same problems exist in virtually every newly launched venture.

As entrepreneurs, sometimes the battle becomes a badge of honor. While having the “nothing can stop me” attitude is helpful, it also often causes us to turn a blind eye to what the experience is doing to our body and our mind. Entrepreneurs will say, “Who has time to relax? The only people who can afford to go to yoga at 6pm are peoples who have never been entrepreneurs.”

If you’re thinking ahead to the day when you’ll no longer run your business, think about these five exit strategies now so you’ll be prepared for your future. Entrepreneurs live for the struggle of launching their business. But one thing they often forget is that decisions made on day one can have huge implications down the road. You see, it’s not enough to build a business worth a fortune; you have to make sure you have an exit strategy, a way to get the money back out. Here are five primary exit strategies for those of you who like to plan ahead and for those of you who don’t, but should.

Failure to understand your cash position, as well as your current and future cash needs, will result in disaster. The sad truth is that cash-flow surprises kill many startups. According to Dunn & Bradstreet, 90 percent of small-business failures are caused by poor cash flow. To prevent becoming part of that 90percent, you’ll need to maintain a focus on cash. When it comes to the financial management of a growing company, always remember that cash is KING.

Most entrepreneurs mistakenly believe that every consumer or business is a potential customer. As a result, when looking for new customers (prospecting) entrepreneurs tends to spread their energy around without focusing on unique customers or how to find them. The sales process depends on creating a “pipeline” of opportunities, meaning that for every ten potential customers you add to the pipeline, you can assume that only one or two of them will become paying customers. Prospecting, or building the pipeline is essential to sales and must be a top priority.

Crowdfunding websites, or platforms, allows individuals and business owners to raise funds for any kind of project by accessing a large number of potential backers. Many people are compelled to use well-known crowdfunding platforms, such as Kickstarter and GoFundMe. While these sites may have a loyal base of backers, the competition for views is fierce. Those seeking support should consider the differences between platforms so they can choose the site that will connect them with interested backers that will provide a strong level of support.

Entrepreneurs live in a constant state of hole plugging. It seems that everything needs to be done at once, but you lack the financial and human resources to get it done. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the beast. Prioritizing is the key to remaining productive. This chaotic state can get overwhelming unless you manage the overlapping tasks that are demanding to get done.

It’s in our blood to strive for perfection. We want to create the perfect product, the perfect service, the perfect business. But more often that not, we don’t have the resources or capital to deliver the perfect product or service. What if I told you that even if you did, no one would notice? Well, it’s true. The specifics or features aren’t the things that stand out- it’s the positioning of the product or service in the mind of the customer.

When asked whether their goal was to be the CEO of a company, many entrepreneurs would say no. Instead, they will say that what motivated them was their passion, their niche, their product, their idea. In fact, many may not have thoroughly considered the “company” part of being an entrepreneur. Think of the doctor, the jewelry maker, or the fashion designer. They see a way for their unique product or service to come to life but they rarely think about offices, finances, organizational structure, team management, and so on.

In the chaos of an entrepreneurial venture, you might find yourself saying, doing and allowing things that would be taboo in a normal business environment. For example, if every entrepreneurial venture had a “curse jar” that required a five-dollar “donation” for every curse we might be able to solve the national deficit pretty quickly. However, there are certain inappropriate behaviors that have a lasting effect that can set poor standards, establish values contrary to the interests of the company and create a toxic culture that can be hard to clean up. You must establish a set of ideals and perspectives that are non-negotiable for everyone.

Taking time away from your business to raise money seems like a distraction from the business. But, in fact, getting your company the capital it needs can be the most important thing that you do. However, when we undertake the effort, it often seems that we hear different feedback from every investor and that each investor meeting is like starting from scratch.

It is really hard for us entrepreneurs to understand on a daily basis how everyone on the planet (and maybe even other planets) aren't toiling day and night. After all, doesn't everyone out there know that were are trying to bring our business to life. There is no lunch hour. There are no days off. What is a vacation? This is how we normally think about the world on a day to day basis. But what happens when we hit August and the winter holidays?

As entrepreneurs, we often lack the capital and resources we need to move our business forward. What we do not lack is the ability to think differently about problems and solutions. When my company almost collapsed in the financial crisis of 2008, it was only my ability to come up with solutions when none existed that helped us bounce back. There are so many times that you will be faced with a problem that seems like it is insurmountable.

Communication is key. As an entrepreneur, you are the leader of your organization, which means you set the tone. That means that every little thing you say will have an effect on your team, whether you realize it or not. The fast pace and intensity of each day leaves little time to worry about your tone of voice, but what you say and how you say it makes all the difference. Here are a few Do’s and Don’ts to sharpen your communication skills:

With the advent of technology and the amount of capital floating around, you get competition from anywhere. So when you are talking to a potential partner or investor, how do you protect your idea? Certainly taking some basic steps can help. This includes signing a mutual non-disclosure agreement and filing for trademarks and patents. But if someone really wants to steal your idea, even these vehicles can fall short.

Communication is key. As an entrepreneur, you are the leader of your organization, which means you set the tone. That means that every little thing you say will have an effect on your team, whether you realize it or not. The fast pace and intensity of each day leaves little time to worry about your tone of voice, but what you say and how you say it makes all the difference. Here are a few Do’s and Don’ts to sharpen your communication skills:

Every entrepreneur faces an overwhelming set of tasks to be accomplished. The list is endless. Strategy. Technology. Team. Business models. Plans. Tactics. Functional areas. Branding. Staff. Money management. Offices. Fundraising. For every ten hours of time, there are one hundred hours of work. Put aside the passion, energy, emotion and pressure and think of all the things that need to get done.

We lose perspective as entrepreneurs. I want to help people recognize this and manage our teams and ourselves through it. We lose sight of the fact that the rest of the world does not wake up with the passion, determination and focus that we do. Something has spurred us to take this wild journey to create our venture. Our heart and soul are in it. Our business life and personal life (if you have one) are intimately intermingled. We think about it twenty-four hours per day and our dreams are not of sipping piña coladas or a relaxing day at the spa, but rather having our first real paying customers. It is unlikely anyone else is losing sleep, shunning their personal lives, or investing their heart and soul.

What happens when we have team members who are not used to the pace or the pressure of an entrepreneurial venture? I'll give you an example: I was driving to a meeting with ADP  with one of our female sales reps and we were late. I’ve been known to put the pedal to the metal and we were buzzing through the streets of New Jersey trying to get to there on time. I was also talking on my phone. In the midst of casual  conversation with her, she said,  “Can  you pull over for a second?” She opened the door, stuck her head out the window  and threw up. She leaned back in the car with a look of horror on her face. This  is when the ridiculousness of an entrepreneurial mind takes over.

For all of us that have become entrepreneurs, we believe that what we're doing is unique. We put our heart and soul into our idea but sometimes our obsession clouds our judgement. Let's say that you are about to start a meatball restaurant, and your friends say to you - "there are already tons of meatball restaurants." Event though that's true, you are likely to say - "but you've never tasted my meatballs."

The day we lose our passion for our idea or business is the day we should stop being an entrepreneur. But that does not mean that our passion can make us blind. When we are under the influence of our passion, we often don't see what is going on around us and reduce our chances of success. The key is to realize that this can happen, and create tools and process to bring more objective points of view to the table.

If we walked into a Board room at Apple and said, "we are going to pursue every market with every product", everyone in the room would laugh and security would escort you out the door. 

There are many startup coaches out there that believe that in today's fast paced world, creating a business plan adds no value. After all, chances are that the day you finish it, it will be irrelevant. The market will have moved. Your competitors will have changed. And your basic assumptions will be out the window.

Do we focus on creating a superior product or on superior positioning? While we can never have the product or service we are delivering be deficient, more often than not it is positioning that wins out over the nature of the product.  In our cluttered day, it is often hard for a purchasers to have the time to see all the features and functionalities of a product.

We have all had friends and family say to us, "you need to get some sleep." Our immediate reaction is "who has time to sleep - we are trying to create a business here and we have a million things to do." As entrepreneurs, it seems like foregoing sleep is not only a necessity but a badge of honor that comes with the title "entrepreneur." Nothing could be further from the truth.