Innovation is key. Always be creative, be willing to take risks, explore, and experiment. It's also very important to consider the future. To make decisions with an eye toward how the business environment will be different and how you're circumstances may change.
As hard as it may seem (especially in the early stages of starting a new business), you should starting planning for the future selling of your business. By this I mean that you should plan to make the best business you can so that one day (when you are done or ready to move on) your business will look good to potential buyers and you'll be able to receive the highest return from selling your business. Consider things like: hiring employees who will stay on in the long-term and who could potentially run the business as well as you do; using the highest quality equipment and maintaining it; keeping up the appearances of your storefront (or website); etc.
When I started my business, I would never have imagined I would consider selling my business before I died. But a few years back, under circumstances out of my control, I needed to sell my business. There was a lot of work to do in preparing it for sale (like every business), but while I was doing the work and the research I found
this article "Things to Consider When Acquiring a Business" that made me wish I had considered some of these things all along and not just when I was about to sell.
I hope this helps anyone in the process of starting a business!