Start a Business Without Going Broke

Starting a business is difficult enough when the economy is strong but when you decide to start a business amid a 9.7 percent unemployment rate--while foreclosures are at an all-time high and bankruptcies are reaching epic proportions--the odds for success seem hopeless.
For startups willing to defy the odds, there are many advantages to starting a small business during a recession, and it can even be done without burring yourself in debt. Experts will tell you that the absolute best time to start a business is during a recession, and several well-known, highly successful businesses were launched during weakened economies.
Why did these companies succeed against the odds? They succeeded because the founders recognized a need in the market and filled it. Identifying that market need is the key to success for any business--regardless of what the economic climate is when those market needs are fulfilled.
Hewlett Packard was started in a garage during the Great Depression with startup costs of just $538. It was the first technology company to exceed $100 billion in revenue and is currently operating in almost every country worldwide. Burger King got its start during the recession of 1954; the Whopper was added to the menu during the recession of 1957. Microsoft was started during the 1975 recession. Bill Gates dealt with primitive computer languages until the creation of MS-DOS, which IBM Corp purchased, starting the company's climb to fortune.