Still, investors are very cautious. Do you think good ideas might not get funding?

Most businesses don’t require a lot of outside investing. The great majority of even very-high-growth, successful businesses tend to be started with about $5,000 to $10,000. And most people can rustle up $5,000 to $10,000 to get their business started. So the problem is rarely the availability of money.

The bigger issue is: Can you find a niche where customers are willing to pay a decent price for what it is that you are trying to do. So there are some industries like the construction industry -- that’s going to be a tough business. But think of the health care sector -- it accounts for almost 20% of GDP and everyone is looking for ways to cut costs and improve efficiency in health care. So there are abundant opportunities for entrepreneurs.

But it’s hard even to get a line of credit to start a business.

Sensible bankers, insensible times. Most businesses will not get a line of credit for good reason. There isn’t collateral, there isn’t a track record, so this is the trial by fire that separates good startups from bad. When credit is too abundant and equity investors are too eager to invest in you, when money is falling off the trees and anybody who has…half a business plan can get money, [there is no pressure] to serve a customer need. The book I’ve just written, "The Venturesome Economy," says the great strength of America is its entrepreneurs, who take high-end research and translate it into solutions for people. I get a lot of pushback now, people asking: “How can you be optimistic in these awful times?” And I say this is precisely the time to be optimistic. The personal computer took off roughly between 1980 and 1983, which was a time of the worst recession since the Great Depression. Far worse than it is today. Yet people were still buying computers like hot cakes, and in those days computers used to cost $5,000 to $10,000. That’s when Microsoft took off, that’s when Compaq got started, that’s when IBM launched its PC, that’s when a zillion entrepreneurs in and around the computer industry really made their mark. I see no reason why this won’t happen again.

Should the focus of an entrepreneur be different than, say, two years ago?

Entrepreneurs should always be looking at cash flow rather than profits. Profits are fine, but cash flow is what you live or die by. And a lot of businesses are sloppy in simple things like invoicing. You’d be astonished at the number of businesses that don’t send out invoices in a timely manner because they are too busy doing something else.

Does a new business idea always have to be creative?

Many think that great businesses are started with breathtaking ideas, but there are lots and lots of ideas that are not breathtaking, that do not involve any technological breakthrough but nonetheless, through a certain amount of ingenuity and a certain amount of resourcefulness, repackage what already exists in a manner that creates value for the customer. I have a lot of faith in American entrepreneurs to be able to find things like that...This is a difficult time, but I am optimistic that this is a healthy jolt [for the economy]. It’s a healthy dose of reality [that will lead] people to look at what they do in more creative way.

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