你没有借口不去创业：白手起家必备秘籍

How to Really Start a Business (or Why You Don’t Need Money to Make Money)
创业之道——赚钱无需花钱

Everyone has excuses about why they can’t (actually won’t) earn more money. A common excuse is, “I need money to make money”.
对于为什么不能（实际上是不去）挣更多钱，每个人都有自己的理由。其中最常见的要数：“想创业挣钱，我得先有足够的钱”。

You and I know that’s a myth (you do know that’s a myth, right?), but most people take it as a truism.
你我都知晓这个理由并不是真的（你不会不知道吧？），但大多数人却把它当作真理。

A lot of people think they need tens of thousands of dollars to get in on a franchise, or put cash down for a rental property, or buy into some silly multilevel marketing scheme.
许多人认为他们需要一大笔资金去获得特许经营权，或是支付租金，亦或是引入荒诞的多层级营销方案。

The fact is, there are plenty of ways to make money without the need for a pile of cash — as Chris Guillebeau’s recent book, The $100 Startup, covers. The first step is to realize that there are always multiple solutions to any problem, whether it’s making more money, building your retirement nest egg/strongbox, or bartering for broccoli.
但实际上，有很多方法既可以赚钱，又无需大把原始资金，就像克里斯·古里博的新书《100美元起家》所描述的那样。第一步是要意识到凡事总有多种解决之道，无论是赚更多的钱、为日后养老储备资金、还是与人交换西兰花。

Must-have tools for creating a business on the cheap are:
白手起家必备秘籍：

• A bootstrapping mindset: How can you get or do something for free or extremely low cost? Again, creative brainstorming and flexible thinking will help you figure out how to accomplish a task on a shoestring. Check out some more specific bootstrapping principles to get you started.
• 步步为营：怎样才能白手起家呢？创造性思维、灵活应变的能力都可以让你以极少的钱完成任务。再多找些具体的步步为营法则看看，让自己顺利起步吧。（注：Bootstrapping来自于20世纪初期美国流传的一句“提着鞋带把自己举起来”的谚语，其本质就是一种步步为营、循序渐进的思想，指的是创业者在资源有限的条件下，发掘机会，创建新事业并实现价值。）

• Small steps and a willingness to experiment: This is the iterative, lean startup approach, where you try something small & fast, learn from it, and improve. What? You haven’t heard of the lean startup approach? Well, start reading up on it. It’ll save you from wasting time and money, and reduce startup frustration and misery.
• 脚踏实地，勇于尝试：这一环节，创业者所要做的就是重复的精益创业。在此期间，创业者可以做各种小而快的尝试，从中获取经验和教训，提升自己的实力。什么？你竟然没听说过“精益创业”？好吧，那么先好好钻研一番吧。你的时间和金钱将不再被浪费，起步的挫折与痛苦将会减轻。（注：lean startup以一个远景假设为出发点，通过快速、低成本的验证方式，验证产品与市场的契合度，不断迭代并及时调整方向。）

• Market validation: Again, from the lean startup/customer development paradigm, make sure that you’re offering something that people want and will pay for. What what? You haven’t heard of customer development either? Not a problem. There’s great info out there to get you started.
• 市场调研：同样地，从精益创业/发展客户范式入手，确保你所提供的产品是有需求的，客户是愿意付钱买的。什么什么？你也没听说过发展客户？关于这方面的信息可是有很多呢，你可以了解后再开始创业。