An article by Barabara Weltman in Bottom Line/Retirement suggests some guidelines for bootstrapping a business for less than $1,000 to see you through your retirement years.

I'm not quite there yet, but the piece makes some good points about creating a business around your expertise.

Weltman writes:

The more your bootstrap business relies on skills developed during your working life, the more likely you are to make money. If you spent your life in public relations, for instance, your best chance for profits is by drawing on your contacts in public relations.

She also says:

Carve out a niche in the industry where you have the most experience. Think through products and/or services that would benefit someone in your industry, but that aren't available at a reasonable price.

Two important points Weltman makes here are:

• Try to sell to smaller businesses that won't interest your bigger competition, but that you can profit from due to your low overhead

• Provide outsourced services to your old employer and others in the same industry, again being competitive by perhaps working from your house and thus keeping expenses low

Another important point Weltman makes in choosing a business is:

Understand the effort involved in running a business. When you're running your own business, you must handle everything -- from sales and marketing to accounting and collections.

It seems to me this is a biggy, especially when you think about people who like the idea of a business, but not the business itself.

Weltman gives the example of the couple who wanted to turn their passion for collecting antiques into a business selling them online, but the thing I always think of here is a partner and I who wanted to start a newspaper but didn't like the idea of selling advertising.

Bootstrappers aren't specialists. That's why their overhead is so low. I'm not saying you'll never outsource something, just that you have to be willing to do a fair amount yourself.

I don't agree with Weltman that you need a business plan showing you revenue projections for the next five years of earnings. This is the trap people who write elaborate business plans fall into.

Projections of this kind are guesses pure and simple that look good when you're going after that big bank loan, but could be disastrous once you get the money.

Remember what Guy Kawasaki has to say about bootstrapping:

Focus on cash flow, not profitability...The reality is that you pay bills with cash, so focus on cash flow.

Worry about getting enough cash flow to make your business viable. Then you won't have to wait, as Weltman suggests, for two years to see whether you should fold your business or not. If it's not making money, you don't have a business.