Four tech entrepreneurs interviewed by IT Career Planet said that having an IT invention is only half the battle. How you take it to market, meet customer demands and manage the intricacies of business operations determines whether you're ultimately a winner.

Along the road to success, these entrepreneurs learned four common key lessons. Here is their stark advice:

1) Pay attention to the customer

The coolest IT invention can't succeed in the free market unless there are people to buy it. Do some market intelligence before you spend money on product development, marketing and staff. In some cases, just your experience and gut instinct will point the way. If you have doubts, do some research to learn who really needs your IT invention and then determine the size of this universe.

"The real problem to solve is the market -– what is really needed, how can you deliver it, how will it be financially viable," wrote Rogue Wave Software President Cory Isaacson of Boulder, Colo., in an email interview. "Lack of focus on these areas is often a real issue in getting a new business off the ground, so it’s important to have those fundamentals in place."

2) Get savvy on sales and marketing

Not all businesses require a sales force for success, but every IT business start-up does need marketing know-how.

IT entrepreneur Ajay Goel, president and founder of Dayton, Ohio-based JangoMail, a provider of backend integrated email marketing delivery services, propelled his company to $3 million in revenue using only search engine marketing strategies -– specifically pay-per-click ads purchased on major Internet search engines. Goel was quick to caution that a click doesn't guarantee a sale. Choose keyword phrases such as "sending e-mail attachments" instead of the generic phrase "email marketing" to contain costs and get sales results.

In other cases, Internet marketing isn't enough and a sales staff may be necessary. But unless you've managed sales professionals in the past, you should hire someone to manage them for you.

Goel said that his company spent a lot of money on a sales person, a strategy that ultimately failed because Goel didn't personally have any sales foundation.

"I would talk to colleagues and they would say, 'Well, you know, is he meeting his quota?' I thought 'Quota? What is a quota?'," said Goel.