Steve Jobs said, “If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.” This is true for any business. Most successful businesses start very small, and go through a lot before they come to the attention of the public.
A very good example is the seeds sown by Jobs and Steve Wozniak to grow what would eventually become Apple Inc. The startup had no investors and made do with the little funding they could get for a VW microbus and HP calculator.
This is bootstrapping–and it is the best way to start a new business. Despite what most people think, you don’t need a lot of money to fund a startup. In fact, most successful entrepreneurs have used their own money to start their businesses.
Dispatches From The Front 