The title of this post was inspired by the famous Alfred Hitchcock film "Dial 'M' for Murder", but the post itself was inspired by an article by T.J. Byers in Mother Earth News about bootstrapping a telephone installation business since divestiture of AT&T in the 80's.

Byers insists the telephone hookup business is a good one to bootstrap because it:
• Requires little or no up front investment
• Allows the entrepreneur to gradually expand by offering additional services
• Allows the easy outsourcing of some specialized services (like phone repair)

Byers characterizes the phone installation business as:

• A good one for those who like to work with people
• Needing almost no inventory and costing less than $100 to start (back in 1984, that is)
• Allowing flexible work hours perhaps as a sideline to another occupation until your business is really able to take off

Of course, you'll need to do some updating to see what launching such a startup would require today, but the venture offers one advantage recommended by bootstrapping gurus like Guy Kawasaki-beginning with a service first to keep cost down and bring in cash flow quickly.

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