You’ve got an incredible new business idea and you need financing. It’s as easy as a quick trip to the bank, right? After the bank’s loan officer manages to stop laughing enough to talk, he may suggest you try bootstrapping until your business is more successful.

Before you head for the closet to find that ratty pair of hiking boots from last summer, I’d better tell you that bootstrapping actually has nothing to do with shoes. In business, this term simply means starting a new business and keeping it running without financial backing from a bank or investor. Instead, you fund the business yourself and only buy the things you absolutely most have. (Despite what the guy at the office supply says, an executive leather swivel chair is rarely a must.)

I know what you’re thinking - If I could fund the business myself, I wouldn’t be asking for a loan!  Actually, even most wealthy entrepreneurs ask for loans or find other investors when they are starting new businesses, because they don’t want to tie up their money.

How Bootstrapping Works

Many people use credit cards to fund their new business. Some simply pay off one credit card with the other as the monthly bills roll in. (Paying one credit card with another is not a good idea, by the way.) Others try to pay at least part of the monthly balance with household money, which brings up another source of income-friends and family. Sure, finding a big investor is hard, but maybe you can convince good ol’ sis to vacation in her backyard this summer and lend you the three thousand she was going to spend on a luxury cruise. Just don’t overdo the borrowing; you don’t want to create hard feelings.

Once you have a way to purchase the necessities, be creative with the rest of your needs. Comparison shop, ask for specials, or trade services with someone else. For some terrific ideas on how to make your money stretch while bootstrapping, check out Secrets of Bootstrapping.

By the way, I’d love to hear your ideas for starting a new business on next to nothing, and I’m sure everyone else would, too.

So, you sent an unsolicited article to an editor and it has been three whole days. What is the editor doing? Why isn’t there a response? It won’t hurt to send a follow up email, right?

Actually, there are times when sending a follow up email is a great idea, but this isn’t one of them. Editors often have several hundred new unsolicited submissions to look over each month. In addition, each accepted piece means more work for the editor. Generally, sending a follow up email after only a few days is a bad idea and will make the editor wonder if you are going to be one of those “needy” writers.

Now, if the editor has had your article for six months and the magazine has a two month turn around policy, it is definitely time to drop a polite email asking if the manuscript was received. That article may be sitting in the editor’s “in case I have room” pile, but it could just as easily have been devoured by SPAM filters.
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So, you want to quit the day job and start a crafting business, huh? Well, before you do, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

• Is your product marketable? You’ll need to be able to make crafts that people want to buy.
• Do you have a place to sell your crafts? Craft shows are a good place to start, but etsy.com, ebay.com, gift shops and even antique shops can be viable options, too.
• Are you factoring the cost of electricity, water and raw supplies into the final price of your products? If you craft for a living, you want to be sure your crafts aren’t losing money!
• Are you willing to “tweak” crafts that aren’t selling or create completely new products to keep your customers coming back for more?
• Do you understand the need to keep up with color trends, new decor themes, etc?

If you feel confident that you can meet all of these hurdles, you are ready to try selling your crafts. However, chucking the day job right away may not be the best idea. You may find that selling crafts makes you miserable. After all, what used to be your way to unwind has turned into a job, complete with difficult customers and chores you just don’t want to do!

Do you want to stay home with your children? Just want to be able to work in your bunny slippers and ratty pjs? Believe me, I know the feeling! Working in Pjs is here to help you find the resources and information you need as you transition from a traditional job to working from home.

As you look through the site, you will find articles about legitimate options for work from home employment and work from home opportunities, as well as the support you need to start your own work from home business.

While our most current articles appear on this portion of the site, there is plenty of great information in our other sections:

• Affiliate marketing
• eBay help
• Work from home article archives

By the way, if you’ve been here before, you may notice an entirely new look. I got tired of fighting with my old CMS and am changing completely to the very user friendly WordPress CMS.