It is significantly harder to start a business today than it was five years ago.  And while, as an economic indicator, that is bad news generally, it may not be an entirely bad result of the Global Economic Crisis and the recession.  With fewer available resources, an entrepreneur today has to be more sure of his or her concept before launch.  And one might say that an entrepreneur has to earn the right to start a business. 

Edward Hess, professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, is not discouraged.  He says there are plenty of opportunities out there for entrepreneurs who are ready to map out a successful strategy.  He just believes that the approach should be "conservative, cautious."  And he offers some valuable advice on how to get started:

This is an excerpt from a longer interview at Big Think.  Watch the full interview here.