Chapter 18
The Shoestring Entrepreneur
I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.
—Winston Churchill
Starting and growing a business on a shoestring may not be the optimal choice, but if you are an entrepreneur at heart, it still beats working for “The Man.” Indeed, starting on a shoestring puts you in good company. It is safe to say that most start-ups begin without as much money as the owners would like, but they get off the ground anyway. But understand this, too: although starting and growing a business on a tight budget is possible, it is not easy. Doing it successfully requires several things: the right attitude, OPM (other people's money), and frugality.
The Right Stuff
Although many start-ups do not have optimal funding, a shoestring start-up is a different animal. Starting on a shoestring means that, rather than having less than optimal funding, you have little or no funding at all. It means really starting from scratch. But you can do it. Countless others have done it.
To do it right, you need to begin your bootstrap entrepreneurial journey with a grounded understanding of what it will take. There are five rules of the road to follow:
1. Know that fortunes have been made on minuscule beginnings. Peter Hodgson borrowed $137 to buy the goop he would rename Silly Putty. Arnold Goldstein, author of Starting on a Shoestring, began his first retail discount store, containing roughly $100,000 of merchandise, using only $2,600 of his own money. Real ...
