I was 26; it was the dot-com boom. I had no clear plan but a potential client called me asking for something I could deliver at a price that they were happy wit

I was 26; it was the dot-com boom. I had no clear plan but a potential client called me asking for something I could deliver at a price that they were happy with. I was mostly profitable by about week 5 -- so I only skipped one pay cheque, but I didn't have children then, so it was easier to live cheaply. But that was a service business: service businesses are easy to get started, but they are hard to scale. If you are thinking of making a product business, you are in for a much longer harder road.