Replying here because it looks like responses to the GP comment are closed. I just realized something amusing in Walter Bright's arguments. It started as:
> There are lots of small business coffeeshops. They aren't terribly hard to get going.
After pointing out capital asks of $80k - $250k and how hard it is to get loans without collateral, that Coffee Shop became:
> Besides, it doesn't have to be a coffee shop. There are endless businesses that need little to no capital to start. You can even start with a portable coffee cart, which doesn't cost much to lease.
Behold: a Coffee Cart!
Following that trend line, where will our fearless optimistic American Entrepreneur actually start? Perhaps, Sir, may I present: a Coffee Cup! or this Bag of Coffee!
I do believe there is an official term for this: "Pulling Oneself Up By The Bootstraps".
In the meantime, something was trending in the other direction: "Lots of small business coffeeshops" became "endless businesses that need little to no capital to start".
Now because I'm just curious now, how many bootstrap cups of coffee would have to be sold to get to our aspirational coffeeshop ($100k capital)? My French Roast morning coffee costs about $0.5 in material costs and electricity. Let's say our fearless optimist manages to sell it for $1 - it's no Starbucks drink, after all, and even Tim Hortons sells it for $1.5 or thereabouts, and we're hawking it from the trunk of our jalopy. That's 200k cups of coffee. If we sold a 100 cups a day, it would take 2000 days or 5.5 years.
I suppose our Bootstrapping Entrepreneur could probably get away with munching on Coffee instead of meals, and they surely have a magical coffee machine that never breaks down or needs to be replaced. See, bootstrapping is totally doable, only takes 5.5 years!!!
> There are lots of small business coffeeshops. They aren't terribly hard to get going.
After pointing out capital asks of $80k - $250k and how hard it is to get loans without collateral, that Coffee Shop became:
> Besides, it doesn't have to be a coffee shop. There are endless businesses that need little to no capital to start. You can even start with a portable coffee cart, which doesn't cost much to lease.
Behold: a Coffee Cart!
Following that trend line, where will our fearless optimistic American Entrepreneur actually start? Perhaps, Sir, may I present: a Coffee Cup! or this Bag of Coffee!
I do believe there is an official term for this: "Pulling Oneself Up By The Bootstraps".
In the meantime, something was trending in the other direction: "Lots of small business coffeeshops" became "endless businesses that need little to no capital to start".
Now because I'm just curious now, how many bootstrap cups of coffee would have to be sold to get to our aspirational coffeeshop ($100k capital)? My French Roast morning coffee costs about $0.5 in material costs and electricity. Let's say our fearless optimist manages to sell it for $1 - it's no Starbucks drink, after all, and even Tim Hortons sells it for $1.5 or thereabouts, and we're hawking it from the trunk of our jalopy. That's 200k cups of coffee. If we sold a 100 cups a day, it would take 2000 days or 5.5 years.
I suppose our Bootstrapping Entrepreneur could probably get away with munching on Coffee instead of meals, and they surely have a magical coffee machine that never breaks down or needs to be replaced. See, bootstrapping is totally doable, only takes 5.5 years!!!
F***