John Stanley - How to Start a Business With Little or No Money: True Stories of Success

HOW TO START A BUSINESS WITH LITTLE OR NO MONEY

Adios Press, Inc.

P.O. Box 761122

San Antonio, Texas 78245

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the brief quotations in a review.

Copyright 2012 by John Stanley

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number:

ISBN: 9780966808056

ISBN: 9781626752832

First Edition: 2012

Printed in the United States of America

THERE ARE NO BUSINESS FAILURES

THERE ARE ONLY PEOPLE FAILURES

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DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to Allen Berg who was my mentor, hero, and big brother who taught me the art of persuasion.

May you rest in peace.

This book is designed to provide information on starting a business with little or no money. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher and author are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

This book is not a definitive solution on starting a business. You are urged to read and study all available material to tailor your individual needs.

Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and accurate as possible. However, there may be mistakes, both typographical and in content. The book contains information that was current at the time of the business being created and therefore you should verify if the information is current at the time you start your own business.

The purpose of this book is to educate and entertain. The author and Adios Press, Inc. Shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information contained in this book.

If you do not wish to be bound by the above, you may return this book to the publisher for a full refund.

Sunday morning, before dawn, while everyone was still asleep, I would jump out of bed and into my jeans and tennies. I would run as fast as my seven-year-old legs could carry me to Comos Grocery Store. After getting my Sunday morning newspapers, I went door-to-door in the neighborhood asking, Would you like to buy a Houston Chronicle or Post?

Only after selling all my papers would I return to Comos. After paying for them, Mr. Como would always tell me, Johnny, youre my best paperboy, as he tousled my hair, keep up the good work!

On the way home I would jingle the nickels and dimes I had earned and think about what Mr. Como always told me. Each time the accomplishment of selling all my papers and Mr. Comos acceptance gave me a warm feeling all over.

Over the next fifty years, I would experience that same euphoria each time I started a new business that became successful. It wasnt long before I discovered that I had become addicted to the high that success brought me. After each success it wouldnt be long before I became bored and depressed. The challenge was over, the romance gone! I would go in search of another challenge. All my life I have been an adventurera thrill seeker! I was always more determined to be successful when someone would tell me, you cant. Most people measure success by financial gains and material wealth, while others will say that life is about having as much fun as possible. I measure success by relationships and helping others and finding innovative ways to achieve success.

I have had wealth twice, once by legitimate means, and once by illegitimate means. I have been on bottom several times and found that there was only one direction to gothats up. I have been successful, throughout my life, in almost everything I set out to achieve.

Even as a fugitive I considered myself successful. While on the run for bank fraud, and facing a life sentence, the FBI and Texas Rangers were actively searching for me while I was under their very noses. During that time in 1980, I produced San Antonios first Home and Garden Show in the downtown convention center, and Sheriff Garcia made me an honorary deputy sheriff.

The following year, still on the run, during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeos Saltgrass Trail Ride, I rode horses alongside the chief/captain of the Houstons FBI and he thought I was a DEA Agent from Los Angeles. You see anything is possible when you are determined and set your mind to do it.

I do not believe in luck, chance, the government, dice, sports betting, nor the ponies. I gamble on myself! My adrenaline pump comes from successful achievements, not drugs, not sex, or other stimulants. However, on occasions, I do enjoy a good Cuban cigar and cognac.

Ive traveled to more than thirty-three countries, dined in the worlds finest restaurants in London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo and New York. Ive shopped in Herods in London, Louis Vuitton in Paris, and Gucci in Italy. I played the worlds oldest golf course at The Royal and Ancient Club in St. Andrews, Scotland, and hunted the big five on African Safari. Ive been an author, publisher, university lecturer, talk show host, foreign missionary, crime expert to the media, and a pilot for the Mexican Free Air Force.

Education can be of great concern for anyone that wants to succeed in life, especially if ones ambition is to become an executive for a large Fortune 500" company. The lack of a formal education will not prevent you from becoming successful in anything you want to achieve in life!

I started and succeeded in businesses with only a 7th grade education and didnt receive my high school GED and university education until after the age of forty-two. If I can do it, you can too! If you can add, subtract, read and write, you can become successful.

There are several reasons for writing this book. Although money is a consideration, its not my primary purpose. The main reason is this will probably be my final adventure into starting a new business with little or no money its kinda my last hurrah. I want to enjoy this last euphoria in my old age. I still have that old racehorse in me. This book will show that by using my methods and techniques, they continue to be a valid pathway to success.

The second reason, and I believe is the most important is how you use this book to become successful. I would like to hear from you, so I too, can learn from you.

Thank you for allowing me to share my successes with you and God speed with what endeavors you choose.

There are all types of How-To and Self-Help books that will teach you to achieve almost anything. I will show you how I was successful in starting businesses with little or no money. There are no secrets or magical formulas, everything in this book is based on personal experiences, trial and error, or I learned from others.

As author, my foremost concern is for you to succeed in starting your new business. If you follow the procedures and techniques in this book you will succeed! I will show you step by step how I became successful, not once, but several times.

Authors should also be interested in the readers psychological needs, because it plays a major role if the reader is to succeed. Most readers of How-To or Self-Help books have little or no knowledge of the subject. Its like teaching a child how to ride a bicycle for the first time you need to give positive reinforcement and encouragement for them to succeed. Sometimes the simplest fulfillment of psychological needs are necessary to succeed at any age.