Opening a business in your garage may be romantic in a startup sort of way. But start off at a local incubator and enjoy the conference rooms, receptionists, and copying machines. It also makes you look a lot more professional, and it's a great way to get good advice. "You really feed off other people's energy," says Edrizio De La Cruz, a former investment banker at J.P. Morgan. He runs his e-commerce startup Regalii.com from a Comcast-backed incubator in Philadelphia's Science Center.
NEXT: 4. Hit the contest circuit
