Sharon wrote in to tell me about this article from Money Magazine that discusses 8 entrepreneurs and the businesses they started.

I couldn’t help feeling a little strange after reading through. Are these really good examples of companies one should start? Some of them seemed like poor choices that spent way too much to get started.

• Does the world need another smoothie shop? I imagine you’d have much greater success starting a Jamba juice or Smoothie King franchise then trying to reinvent the wheel.
• Why does it take $200k to start a board game company? Couldn’t you get prototypes made for a couple hundred dollars (at least enough to show at trade shows and get your first orders?)
• The chances of succeeding when opening a chocolate shop seem slim.

Sandy Webster seems to be one of the few in the group who bootstrapped correctly.

What this article demonstrates to me is that even if you take a mediocre business idea, you can still be successful if the owner is incredibly passionate. Personally, I’d rather start with a less risky idea, but anything is possible!