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The first few years of a company can be the most critical for its overall growth trajectory. This early stage will set the tone for the business and determine how potential pitfalls will be handled.  As a business owner, you'll have to make a multitude of important decisions during this time, from determining your product's viability to setting company values. Below, 10 members of Young Entrepreneur Council detail the most important business decisions they made during the first few years of their own businesses and why they feel they were so important in getting them where they are today.

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Every business that's been created was built by the entrepreneur taking some sort of risk. Some risks are obvious, such as taking out a large loan from a family member. Others are more subtle and harder to recognize as they're happening. As an entrepreneur, you may be taking risks right now that you don't even realize. To help you recognize and prepare for those risks, eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council described some of the risks they unknowingly took when they first started their business journeys and how their experiences have shaped where they are today.

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Email marketing is a great way for small businesses to stay connected with their customers and encourage more sales. The problem is that because of their size they often have limited resources for growing their subscriber lists. So to help small business owners expand their email audience (even on a budget), the members of Young Entrepreneur Council weighed in on the following question:

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You can't avoid the occasional upset customer, but you can quickly and effectively smooth things over. A business depends on happy customers for lasting success. Unfortunately, no matter what steps you take to prevent customer service issues, not every client is going to be happy. Whether their reason for anger is justified or not, you’ll need to address the situation and the person’s concerns. The way you respond can make the difference between a customer who’s ultimately satisfied and one who refuses to do business with your company again. To help you assuage angry customers, these successful entrepreneurs share their top tried-and-true tactics for conflict resolution.

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As the new year signifies new beginnings, most people come up with things they want to change as the January rolls around. If these resolutions stick, they could lead to an entirely new way of life. Yet so many people let these goals falter, and within the first few weeks of the new year, these resolutions are relegated to the proverbial garbage heap. However, some people really do manage to attain their goals. Some entrepreneurs have developed great success by sticking to their New Year’s resolutions, but what's their secret? Here, nine members of Young Entrepreneur Council share some helpful tricks to ensure that you can achieve your own New Year’s resolutions this year.

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Discerning the opportunities that are best for your company in the long term is the tricky part.