"When I started my business, my husband and I went from living in a comfortable two-income household to living on one income. Before I left my job, we created a budget to reflect only his income, wrote down all our expenses, and started cutting back. It took time to adjust, but we managed to lower our expenses enough so that we'd still stay afloat if I didn't accrue a dime in my first year of business. Any money I earned before starting my business went into savings.

"My advice for future entrepreneurs is to take a look at your budget today and create a hypothetical one of what it would look like once you're a full-time entrepreneur. You'll need to adjust your income and, if there's any room to cut expenses, do so. It will definitely help!" —Rianka Dorsainvil, CFP, president and founder of Your Greatest Contribution financial planning firm