Most Americans want to own their own businesses. The only problem they see, though, is just how much money (capital) it takes to get one up and going. And so they save (or not!) and wait for the opportunity to have enough cash to start their dream business.

But as anyone who’s ever started their own business knows, the best time to start a business is last year. So it’s better to get started now on a small scale, and ignore the need for infinite capital and perfect situations. I’ll give an example of how I started my current guerrilla business.

Right now I have a few websites that generate a decent amount of money. The problem is, they require a lot of time and effort, the majority of which is spent in front of a computer. I don’t enjoy time spent in front of a computer as much as I used to, and would much rather spend my time pursuing the things that really interest me.

And the thing that really interests me right now is skateboarding. I love how much of a positive influence it is on kids, and how much it helps kids become self confident and starts them thinking for themselves. There are no coaches in skateboarding, and there’s no real competition. Each person has their own way of skating, and each way of skating is an expression of their own personality. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.

So I started devoting my time to starting a skateboard company. I don’t have nearly the savings necessary to buy a few hundred skateboard decks and shirts, but I do have the time to think of innovative ideas for t-shirts and skateboards, and what kind of a company I would build.

I don’t have a computer set up for digital graphics, but I have friends who do. Rather than spend the money for a complete graphics set up, I used their Apple to do a few first couple of graphics. I don’t have the money for a complete silkscreen setup, so I collaborated with another one of my friends who was doing a few homemade screens. We spent in total about $30 setting up 3 screens.

I had t-shirts laying around, so I made my first few t-shirts, and started wearing them around. The first day I wore one, I had 8 people ask me for one. That’s when you know you’ve got a good idea.

Stay small. There is no reason to acquire capital before you’ve got an idea you know works.

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