Page 46 - 597 Business Ideas You can Start from Home - doing what you LOVE! (Beginner Internet Marketing Series)

Step 3. Bootstrapping: M a ke the Most of Your Own Resources 35

Have a Healthy Mindset

For bootstrapping entrepreneurs today, I would adjust that old
adage from "it takes money to make money" to "it takes debt to make
money." What I mean is: It's part of the process for most entrepre­
neurs. The key is to be so genuinely passionate about your product
idea that you won't lose sleep at night because of the amount of
debt accrued on your credit cards and/or from loans (probably from
friends and family). Consider it a part of the process-just like find­
ing a name, filing a patent, making a prototype, and so on.

Think of it like a student who takes on loans to pay for college.
Many people feel that their student loan debt is the cost of ensur­
ing their future. They are comfortable with taking on debt for the
purpose of education, because that degree will help them find a job,
or make more money, or do whatever it is they're trying to do. They
look at the debt as an inevitable responsibility that paves the way for
them to be successful in life. Try to adopt this mindset about your
business debt as you push the product along toward success.

If they can do it,

So eaJ1. fouf

You may not know the name Fred Deluca, but you probably have
eaten one of his sandwiches. Fred Deluca started Subway in 1965
to earn money for college. A fam i ly fri end l e nt him $2,000, which
he used to rent a storefront (without signing a lease), and buy a
specific sink he needed. He set u p shop with what he had. Still,
he found a way to move forward o n a tiny budget. Most impor­
tantly, he believed in sandwiches, which had special meaning to
h i m . As a yo ung kid, his fa m i ly's Sunday treat was a trip to an Ita l­
ian deli. So, he followed his pass ion. Today there are m o re than
28,000 Su bways in eig hty-six cou ntries and it is sti l l a privately
held company with Delu ca's net worth said to be over a b i l l i o n
doll ars, m a k i n g him o n e o f Forbes' richest Americans.