To commemorate the Fourth of July, here are 11 examples of entrepreneurs who achieved financial independence through bootstrapping as reported in this 1995 article in Inc.com.

• In 1985, college student Ian Leopold used $48 for order forms, business cards and a bank account to launch Campus Concepts, an unofficial guide to life at Hobart College. By 1995, the company was publishing student guides for 70 colleges in 35 cities and boasted annual revenues of $4.5 million.

• In 1986, Darwyn Williams was $14 million in the hole after a development deal went bad, when he started a service with partner Chris Moran running out of one room in an old farm equipment warehouse helping business owners reduce their real estate tax liability for a cut of the savings. The company was showing $2 million in revenue by 1994.

• In 1987, former college classmates Joshua Baker and Larry Weinberg started BOWA builders with a combined $5,000 in start-up and remodeled homes while sharing a room at Baker's parents' house and working out of a run down office in Arlington, VA. Their 1995 income was projected at $3.5 million.

• In 1968, assistant football coach Tom Shine started Logo Athletic (originally Lord Russell) marketing shirts with team helmets embroidered on the front by collecting the money first and then ordering the shirts. In 1994, the company was reporting annual revenues of $230 million and is a licensee of the NFL.

• In 1978, maintenance electrician Tom Buschman used $500 in overtime pay to build a "little factory" in his basement manufacturing metering rods for a Cleveland paper plant where he worked. By 1994, Buschman Corp. was earning $2.7 million a year and owned a 14 acre warehouse leasing most of the space to other businesses.

• In 1988, college student Paul Lewis launched MC2 Microsystems, a company installing computer networks, out of his dorm room. He built the computer network in his first office with components from his clients' old computer systems which he removed for a fee. By 1995, the company was projecting a $7 million revenue.

• In 1987, Jeremy Barbera founded Metro Services Group Inc., a direct-marketing company, by going after big league clients first while working from his living room table. Barbera landed American Express as his first client after securing the New York City Ballet as a client for American Express in just one week. The company's 1995 revenues were projected at $7.5 million.

• In 1978, Tom Christopher launched Christopher Charters with just a quarter interest in a Cessna 310 airplane and no start-up capital. Christopher provided same day air delivery flying the first run himself for the cost of a tank of gas. By 1994, Christopher's company, Kitty Hawk Group Inc., had grown to a $108 million air freight service with a fleet of 21 planes.

• In 1985, Kevin E. Kelly founded Value Added Distribution with $100 in savings used for company letterhead and phone service and working out of his house. He accumulated office furniture at auction and from companies going out of business and stored them in his garage. By 1994, Kelly's company was bringing in $11 million annually and had moved to a 1,500 square foot office space.

• In 1986, Thomas Morales launched Tomkats, a catering service, with $2,000 borrowed from his family, who also worked for him in the early days. He bought his first mobile kitchen with a $10,000 advance from a catering job for a visiting film crew. By 1994, the company's revenue had climbed to $4.5 million and Morales' mother was still doing the books.

• In 1989, Lorie Line turned a $20 an hour piano playing gig at Dayton's department store in Minneapolis into a specialty recording business by selling tapes and CD's of her music to visiting shoppers. By 1994, Time Line Productions was earning $2 million with albums in 15,000 specialty and gift shops across the country.

Happy Fourth of July!