2010 will be the Year of the Bootstrapper.  It will be the year of the Entrepreneur who can figure out how to do the most with the least.

2009 was a bad year for entrepreneurs.  Most predictions for 2010 show a slight improvement in conditions and funding, but still, a difficult time to start a business.  But we at The Entrepreneur School believe that now is as good a time as any to start your business.

The Wall Street Journal had a great article this morning covering the different funding avenues available for Start-ups:

Angel Investors
Angel funds fell by 30% in the 1st half of 2009.  Predictions are that Angel funds will stay flat in 2010.  An interesting fact about angel funds is that even though the total dollar amount invested has decreased, the number of start-ups funded has increased.  Fewer dollars for more entrepreneurs.  The bootstrappers will win.

Venture Capital
Average deal size in the 1st half of 2009 was $5.7 million compared to $7.5 million + average from 2005 – 2008.  Venture Capitalists are saving their money for companies in the late stages of development or are giving more funds to companies already in their current portfolios.  Bootstrappers will be a step ahead by not having to wait on the dwindling number of venture funds to come through and will also retain more of their company.

SBA Loans
Less than 45,000 SBA loans were approved from Sept ’08 – Sept ’09, which is 36% lower than the year before.  Right now, SBA loans only make up 1% of start-up lending.  This is expected to increase to 5 – 10% in the near future due to the government’s stimulus packages.

The end of the article describes how Babson College, which is one of the elite entrepreneurship universities in the world, estimates that the average entrepreneur needs $65,000 to get their business up and running.  In this economy, with savings accounts, nest eggs, and house values in disarray, it will be difficult for most entrepreneurs to come up with $65,000.

We at The Entrepreneur School teach ways to start businesses for much less than $65,000.  There are a number of businesses that can be started where Bootstrapping is considered for each aspect of the business.  One of Babson’s professors, Dr. Zacharakis states this in another way:

“Instead of capital infusions, there might be a lot more exchanges of services or trading favors.”

Take a look at the first set of entrepreneurship lessons at The Entrepreneur School.

All info and statistics for this blog post were gathered from The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010.

 

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