Q & A - I Got No Cash...

Q) What if I don’t have any money to get started?

A) I think I hear this more often than I can count and trust me when I say ,”I get it.”, I know what it is like to not have the funds to do the things I want to do. With that being said most of the stories I have read about the entrepreneurs that have built some of today’s most well know brands went through some very creative financing in the beginning, maxed out credit cards, took money from student loans, borrowed money from friends and family and I even read about a garage sale to raise funds.

So when people say they don’t have money to get started... it causes me pause... not because I believe that you don’t need the proper funding to launch your idea, but it shocks me how quickly people want money from others before they have put any money in of their own.

As an investor I have never thrown money at an idea that the inventor did not have his own cash into. How much can you really believe in your idea if your not willing to fund it the fist baby steps to at least prove the concept?

The reality is the start up phase is usually more soft dollars than hard. Doing the research, spending time on the patent sites to see what else is out there that could be seen as similar, making a prototype or sketches even out of cardboard and tape if need be. Many, many things can be done and structured to "get started"

When I hear "I don’ have the money to get started" I really hear an excuse for why you have not gotten started. One of the strongest traits an entrepreneur needs to have is creativity and trust me that trait comes in handy each and every day. The world is trained and conditioned to say "NO" and "No" is when your job as the entrepreneurs, inventor or idea dreamer needs to begin.

Unless your Big Idea is to create a new rocket to travel to Jupiter, more often than not you will not require much money to gather the resources to research it, develop a prototype, create a name and brand concept and demonstrate that to potential buyers. At minimum start there, and uncover weather people will actually purchase it before you ask anyone for money or before you mortgage you home to go for it...


Amilya Antonetti will be addressing this and dozens more of your questions about your Big Idea in person at her keynote address during Lucky Napkin Live, March 20th 2008. To learn more about it and to purchase tickets click here:
http://www.luckynapkinlive.com