Last week, we explored some of the unique challenges faced by entrepreneurs. Corporate executives and entrepreneurs share some business imperatives as leaders in their organizations. However, they vary in the way they approach thinking about their businesses and the degree of control they have in operating them.

Corporate executives may have several layers between themselves and the owners. An entrepreneur is the owner often along with some very interested investors who may take close interest in the everyday functioning of the operation.

Last week, a friend and retired CEO who now advises entrepreneurs as part of his ongoing business interests, wrote a note to me and added to the list of issues that an entrepreneur needs to think about when building their business.

Here are more things that the new entrepreneur needs to consider. Most of these things are important to all businesses, but they are critical, do-or-die imperatives in a startup and all within the control of the entrepreneur.

1. Build structure, not a bureaucracy. Know the difference.
2. Cash is king, not profitability.
3. Don’t give away product enhancements. Adjust your price as they are introduced.
4. Understand your competition before getting started.
5. Be thorough in establishing your initial price. It’s tough to raise a price, particularly in the startup phase.
6. Don’t get distracted by outside requests or activities. Your future depends on your new company, not outside events.

When reading through this list, how many of these mistakes do you think a new business will make? Having been involved in a few startups, I have seen a few of these violated without good outcomes.

Which one do you think is most important? Perhaps the most deadly mistake is not realizing that cash is the lifeblood of your organization. Without it, you can’t survive.

As for the others, after you’ve survived, you need to optimize your business’s potential through maximizing operational efficiency, market positioning and pricing by paying attention to the other items on this list. The future health of your new business depends on getting all these things right.