There are always opportunities in agriculture for people who want to farm and who are willing to follow a few basic principles for getting started and staying in business. In this document, directors and educators with the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers (WSBDF) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison share advice and principles for starting and operating a successful farm business. These principles are based not only on observations of the experiences, both good and bad, of the hundreds of students who have enrolled in the WSBDF, but also on the authors’ farming and business experiences. While these principles were developed with beginning dairy and livestock farmers in mind, most apply to all kinds of farm enterprises.