Mikem has created this great "lens" on business bootstrapping at Squidoo leading off with a story from The Book of Business Anecdotes about the humble beginnings of The New Yorker.

Some other great resources include:

• Links to Burke Jones' "Bootstrapper Notes", a look at the life of a budding e-commerce bootstrapper

• Eight great reasons to bootstrap your business from RightNow Technologies founder and CEO Greg Gianforte

• Ten tips for the greatest grilled cheese (Wait, how did this get in here?!)

• Amazon book listings for The Art of the Start and others

• Links to Guy Kawaski, Barry Moltz, John Hagel, bootstrapping at Entrepreneur.com and more from Gianforte's site

And these eight simple pieces of advice:

1. Realize that some businesses are easier to bootstrap than others.

2. If possible, run your business part time in the beginning.

3. Keep overhead low. Work out of your home as long as possible.

4. Negotiate time rather than price. Rather than expending effort negotiating reduced prices from vendors and suppliers, try to get payment extensions.

5. Maximize your resources. You don't necessarily need top-of-the-line equipment and cutting-edge technology.

6. Stay focused. Bootstrapping isn't easy. It requires discipline, diligence and hard work.

7. Don't empty your wallet without assessing your finances.

8. Finally, if at all possible, don't finance your business with personal credit cards

(See the other side of this argument here)


Also on Squidoo, check out fellow bootstrapper and blogger Pelle Braendgaard's Bootstrapper's Guide with a concise definition, links to his own Stake Ventures blog and many, many others.

There are tools, e-books and other resources.

Book mark both of these sites for regular reference.