• A lot of entrepreneurs are demotivated to start their implementing their great ideas because they don’t have the necessary funding.
• This story is here to tell you that you do not need funding in order to start your business and succeed.
• Get the wheels turning with taking the first step of reading this inspiring story.

There is such a bubble at the moment about funding, that I am sure there are plenty of hopeful not-yet entrepreneurs out there, who are scared they will fail because they don’t have any funding. People, who cannot picture that big fancy office with a $15,000 conference table, they cannot even see how they will pay their next bill but they have this idea, which they think can solve a real problem. In my eyes, that’s all that really matters. The pure grit, the guts to go ahead and do it. The rest they will figure out later.

Where to start?

Nike, Apple, Amazon, Disney, and many businesses (including mine) started from the humblest of beginnings with a small amount of savings, a few credit cards maxed out, and lasted beyond the first hurdles because the founder had pure guts to solve that problem, to go after THAT thing. Many never use or receive funding. I fit that rule too. Many businesses out there will not fit the VC model—tech, modern, hip cool businesses. In fact, most won’t, and when I visit my clients’ premises, I quickly re-confirm that not all businesses start from a big tech dream. The majority don't.

The media portrays the image of an entrepreneur as being part of the big tech realm and working in an incubator. While there is some truth to this, the actual reality is 90% of businesses start with a dream at a kitchen table. Not all businesses are tech-based and the majority of businesses don’t receive funding either. A great example of this can be Beauté Pacifique (BP) – Denmark’s leading skincare brand. BP is based in Denmark and has been selling skin care products for over 20 years. In 1997, Beauté Pacifique started from scratch, with no funding—just pure will at a kitchen table with a few family members. Today, they stand at the top of the Danish skin care industry and are a reference in anti – aging products and technology.

Last year, I had the honour to be invited by BP to visit their Danish headquarters. I was honoured to be given a tour by the owner himself, and we sat in his car discussing his fondness for hounds and how the whole thing started. No need to say I was silently being mind – blown. The love he had for his product and its cause was impossible to not notice, and it goes to show that passion alone is worth more than any amount of funding. He told me the story of building his business, starting from the very beginning. It all started with an engineering angle and in the kitchen of his home. His family would sit around the table, each with a specific role, and manually package the products for hours at a time. With very few resources, the family put in the time and effort to turn the dream into a reality, and boy – that they did. An overnight success of 20 years.

In conclusion

The BP story will forever sit with me, and I use it as a tool to maintain perspective on what entrepreneurship really is. By believing in your business with an unrelenting passion and surrounding yourself with the true supporters of your idea and advisors, I promise that your business will shape together one way or another, and, who knows, you might even retain a 100% stake in the thing. I went back to my hotel thinking about how legacy companies start and why I love supporting an underdog… and probably always will. So, if you have the sole idea and will to start, don't be scared.