(MONEY Magazine) – FOR THE DAD IN Little Miss Sunshine

His daughter may be a beauty pageant finalist in the hit indie film Little Miss Sunshine, but Richard (Greg Kinnear) has problems. He wants to be a self-help guru--books, seminars, TV shows--but he has no audience, no book deal and no backup plan. We asked David Gumpert, a start-up consultant and the author of How To Really Start Your Own Business, what Richard could have done differently.

• Know your industry. Think positive, but don't ignore cautionary tales. "People tend to look only at success stories and think, I can do that," says Gumpert. Richard should have learned about potential pitfalls by, say, writing a book in his spare time before quitting his job. "Try freelancing first. Learn about it from the inside."

• Keep passion in check. Too many small business wannabes believe in themselves more than in what they're selling. "Passion is about believing in the product or service, that it's necessary in the marketplace," Gumpert says. "It's not just saying, 'Why not me?'"

• Have a cushion. When Richard's wife (Toni Collette) finds out his book deal is dead, she's steamed. If he had been up front, she might have insisted they set aside enough to cover six months of expenses (a standard amount) before he embarked on his quest.