Starting a business is not easy, and too few entrepreneurs - including those who have already tasted success - do enough research on the industry they plan to enter. For example, Sakhumzi Maqubela, owner and founder of Sakhumzi Restaurant in Vilakazi Street, decided to set up Safana Panelbeaters."After 13 years of running a successful restaurant in Soweto, I took a share in a panel-beating business, way across town [in Bruma]," he said. "I had zero experience of the industry and, as a result, paid unnecessarily high school fees to learn and run the business properly."It is so important to do your homework and speak to existing players, who can tell you first-hand some of the pitfalls and what you can expect in the market."story_article_left1Other challenges that entrepreneurs face include high barriers to entry, the need for regulatory approval in some industries, and the lack of proper implementation of the National Development Plan.Maqubela has the following suggestions:• Use preferential procurement and enterprise-development incentives - Barloworld supported Safana, for example.• Entrepreneurs need to have access to business education;• The issues around BEE and enterprise development need to be better conveyed; and• Companies need to be encouraged to participate "for the greater good of the economy and because it is the right thing to do"...