I like working for a large company but I understand the many others who dream of owning their own businesses.

Lately, however, I've noticed quite a number of folks who have started their own travel agencies. Several friends and family members have approached me asking that I use their Web sites to make my airline, hotel or car rental reservations. Mind you, most of them had never previously expressed the slightest interest in helping people travel.

Yet they have signed up with an online company that markets home-based travel agencies. In this business venture, you pay a monthly fee for a personalized Web site with back office support. You then direct people to your Web site to book travel on which you receive a commission. In this network-building business, you can also make money by getting others to establish their own Web sites.

Small-business ownership certainly has been a popular path to prosperity in this country. But even in a country of more than 25 million small businesses, it is important to note that many fail. While two-thirds of new employer firms survive at least two years, only 44 percent last four years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This holds true pretty much across all industry sectors.

To make sure your small business isn't a failure and financial drain on you, consider the following advice from the Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) and SCORE, formerly the Service Corps of Retired Executives (www.score.org), a nonprofit made up of working or retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders who volunteer to help budding business owners: