How To Start a Business On a Showstring Millionaire Dropout Vince Stanzione

How to start a business on a shoestring

amp.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2013/nov/28/start-business-shoestring-budget

Guardian staff reporter

The growth of the internet has changed everything in business, creating opportunities for shoestring entrepreneurs. Photograph: Alamy

How to ...

Self-made millionaire entrepreneur Vince Stanzione proves you don't need to spend a fortune to start a profitable business

Vince Stanzione

In a survey released this month by YouGov, two thirds of the 1,960 small business managers or owners quizzed cited debt and the state of the economy as the main reasons for not borrowing from banks. These figures are perhaps a sign of the times. However, the fact is that you don't necessarily need to borrow money in order to set up a business. I've set up three multi-million dollar businesses on shoestring budgets. One of them, which I still own today, was set up with a small classified advert costing the equivalent of £70 and an answering machine in my spare room.

The types of businesses I favour are those that you can get involved with in your spare time without giving up the day job. Shoestring entrepreneurs don't want to go into competition with Tesco or Walmart. By finding an unusual product that you can deliver via mail order or creating an information resource that satisfies a niche need, you can create a profitable business. And don't feel like you have to stop at one – if they are not eating into your time you can run any number of businesses on a shoestring.

My main businesses have been in carphones, premium-rate telephony and financial publishing, and all of them were started with tiny budgets. I started my mobile phone business with one advert in a national Sunday newspaper, and subsequently built that up to