This is a guest post by Robert Tuchman.

The task of starting a new business can be daunting.  It takes a lot of time, responsibility, and effort.  And with the state of national economy, starting your own business can be even harder.  In this tough economic climate, there are a few things you can do to ease the financial burden and accomplish your entrepreneurial goals.

One thing you can do to brace yourself is to go back to your suppliers—to your telephone provider, landlord, car dealer—and renegotiate.  Go to the people you are paying out to, and renegotiate on the contracts you had made with them.  See if they are willing to cut you some slack.  Although they are dealing with the same slow-down as you are, you will find that they are more willing to do you a favor than lose you as a customer.

I cannot stress enough the need for products you are selling to be presented in more detail.  You must make the clients understand who you are and what your product is. Market better!  Understand where people are coming from: be compassionate with their concerns.  Be willing to work out payment plans for potential clients.

Save money using technology: take advantage of email and video conferencing.  You should email documents rather than sending them via snail mail.  This will save you in postage and in paper.  Also, instead of driving or flying to meet with a client or vendor, you should videoconference with them.  Both of these will save you time and money.

Today’s economy can be hard, but if you stay strong, you will be able to thrive.  Following these tips will allow you to save money that you can then invest in expanding your company, rather than merely keeping it afloat.  Try to channel your entrepreneurial spirit—be unrelenting!

About the Author

When Robert Tuchman graduated from college, Tuchman was quickly forced to abandon his dream of becoming a sports reporter. Applications to sports programs across the country were ignored and eventually he accepted a position as an investment advisor at Lehman Brothers in New York, followed by a stint Paine Webber.

Still wanting to break into the sports industry, he joined Sports Profiles after reading about them in Entrepreneur, working out of his apartment selling sports magazine advertisements. Quickly realizing that everyone to whom he sold ads wanted the perks (tickets to games or luxury trips to events) more then the ads, he decided to start a business that catered to this niche called Tuchman Sports Enterprises (TSE).

Within two years of working out of that tiny one-bedroom Upper East Side apartment, with one phone and a fax machine, his company was named to the annual Inc. 500 list of America’s fastest growing privately held companies and as one of the top 100 promotion agencies by Promo Magazine. He started TSE with no money and no investors and ended up selling it for millions of dollars to Premiere Global Sports. Last year TSE earned over $70 million dollars in sales as the Corporate Events division of Premiere Global Sports. Robert Tuchman now serves as President of that division, still guiding his company in its new form.

He writes a monthly column for Incentive magazine, an industry magazine for incentive and meeting planners. He is also the author of  The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live, a sports travel book. His articles have appeared in ESPN.com and Sports Business Journal.

A favorite commentator on the sports industry, you may have seen him recently discussing Michael Phelps on “Anderson Cooper 360” or the “CBS Morning News.” A frequent guest on “Your World with Neil Cavuto,” he has also appeared on CNN, the “CBS Morning News,” BET, and has been featured in USA Today, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Entrepreneur.