According to a Wells Fargo/Gallup poll here is how a large group of entrepreneurs answered the question, "How much did you use to start your business?"

21% - $1,000 or less
14% - $1,001 - $5,000
10% - $5,001 - $10,000
21% - $10,001 - $50,000
10% - $50,001 or more
24% - Did not know or refused to answer

If you are looking to start a business and don't have a lot of money don't think you have to start with hundreds of thousands of dollars. You can see that the majority of the entrepreneurs surveyed have started and survived with less than $50,000.

So the real question is "What is the minimum I HAVE to have to get started?"

To answer this you need to sit down and outline a realistic budget of how much money all start-up costs will take and what fixed expenses you will have each month until revenues starts coming in.

Lots of new business owners are so focused on the actual start-up, with what color the walls of the office will be, what furniture they'll buy, what top of the line server they can get, what the new brochure and website will look like - all without ever looking at how the first dollar of income will be generated.

My response to these business owners is to focus on income and then look at how you will support that income. In the start-up phase make sure you focus your attention on where the revenue will come from and what marketing will cost to generate the sales, then look at what is needed to support that. In most cases you can start with smaller offices, work out of home, and having simple computer and office equipment. Look to outsource larger tasks such as printing, graphic design and even bookkeeping.

As you grow the business and are generating a profit then you can focus on bringing the outsourced areas back into the company for more control.