This is the 2nd in a series of stories where entrepreneurs tell how they kept the bills paid, during the lean times.

In this installment, you meet Michael, Steve, and Adam.

Michael Lewis, Chief Concierge and Owner of Suite Arrival said, “I think one of the biggest mistakes a poor startup founder can make is attempting to operate at current capital expenditures. Meaning, trying to bootstrap a startup and still maintain the new car payments, weekend bar binges, movies at $12/ ticket, etc.

The lifestyle at least in my case had to change. The first thing I did when starting Suite Arrival was I saved money for 6 months like a squirrel stores acorns for winter. I then cashed out my 401k, and minimized my lifestyle. I got rid of everything and went all in. I sold my car, put away the Xbox and lived with a laptop, on a futon mattress and paid low rent for a room in someone’s house. No more expensive bar tabs or $20 lunches.

Entrepreneurs that are all in must realize that seeking out the discount lunches, clipping coupons and being frugal will extend the time they have to focus 100% hustle into the company. That’s why Suite Arrival has grown so much in just 6 months. I am on it 24/7 with everything I have. Plan, save, reduce, cash in and be frugal.”

For more information about Michael and Suite Arrival visit http://suitearrival.com/
Follow Suite Arrival on Twitter at http://twitter.com/suitearrival
Become a Facebook Fan at http://tinyurl.com/397cs4n
Follow Suite Arrival’s Blog at http://blog.suitearrival.com/

Steve Kamb, Founder of Nerd Fitness said, “I launched Nerd Fitness in the spring of 2009, and continued working my day job (I worked for a company that produced music cruises), for the next 18 months while building my audience for the website. I would work all day at the office, go to the gym, and then come home and work on the website from 8PM to midnight or 1AM, every day.

In June of 2010, despite not pulling in any money yet through my site, I made the decision to quit my job and concentrate full time on it. Over the past two months, I’ve picked up odd jobs here and there (I worked as a production assistant on a music video shoot for two nights, helped a friend work a concert another night, did some marketing research for a company another night, etc.). I recently launched my first money-making part of my company, but I still plan on picking up odd jobs here and there while growing the business.”

For more information on Steve and Nerd Fitness visit http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/
Follow Nerd Fitness on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nerdfitness
Become a Facebook Fan at http://tinyurl.com/2ewozsx

Adam Kruse, Real Estate Broker with Hermann London said, “To keep the bills paid when I was starting in Real Estate I did a few things.”

1. Kept my day job for awhile.
2. Sold things for people on eBay and took a cut.
3. Cut overhead as much as possible by working from home, driving an old car, and utilizing interns.

For more information on Adam and Herman London visit http://www.hermannlondon.com/
Follow Hermann London on Twitter at http://twitter.com/hermannlondon
Become a Facebook Friend at http://www.facebook.com/StLouisRealtor

Julie Barnes is the author is this post. Julie is excited to be living in Generation E – the age of the Entrepreneur. As a writer, she enjoys writing about all aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. She enjoys interviewing entrepreneurs whose experience and wisdom can inspire others to follow their entrepreneurial dreams. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron, lovable dog Hank, and sweet kitten Sammy. You can visit her site at www.julieabarnes.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at @JulieBarnesKS. Become a Facebook friend at Julie Barnes.

Here is Tim Besse, Co-Founder and Vice President of Product and Marketing at Glassdoor.com. Tim tells us all about Glassdoor, his background and gives lots of great advice.

Can you begin by telling us about your background? Where you are from, age, college education, etc.

I’m originally from Ohio where I attended and earned my bachelor’s degree from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Prior to co-founding Glassdoor.com, I worked with Expedia where I helped launch early stage businesses, including Expedia’s telesales and private label businesses as well as its online luxury offering, Classic Custom Vacations. However, my most recent role at Expedia was the director of product management and online marketing for the Asia Pacific division of Expedia. In this role, I developed new markets in Australia, Japan, and China, and assumed general management responsibility of the Hotels.com business in Asia.

When did you begin to develop your idea for Glassdoor.com? What gave you the idea to do this? What do you compare the site to if anything?

The idea of Glassdoor.com began in the summer of 2007, when my co-founder Robert Hohman (CEO of Glassdoor) was busy taking time off after having left his position as president of Hotwire.com. His long-time friend Rich Barton called up with an interesting question:

“What would happen if someone left the unedited employee survey for the whole company on the printer and it got posted to the Web?”

The two had previously worked together at Microsoft and then Expedia, which Rich founded in 1994. Expedia ultimately transformed travel by opening up information once available only to travel agents and insiders. Rich then went on to transform real estate with the launch of Zillow.com, allowing anyone to find and research home values from their personal computer.

Robert and Rich contemplated why it’s so difficult to find helpful information about jobs and workplaces. Robert called on me and we expanded the survey concept to include salary details down to the job level and CEO approval ratings, just like politician approval ratings. And thus, Glassdoor was born to deliver new transparency to an incredibly important part of our lives — our work.

To give you a comparison, think of Glassdoor.com as the TripAdvisor or Yelp of jobs and workplaces that uses employee-generated content to provide a free inside look at companies from those who know best – employees.

How did you go about taking Glassdoor.com to where it is today?

We worked on appealing to an individual’s curiosity – There’s always a natural curiosity around the competitiveness of compensation and finding out what others think. Through media relations and word of mouth , we have been able to virally spread the word about Glassdoor so as to show that there are answers out there to questions specific to one’s job title, workplace and even geographic location.

The site definitely seems to get a lot of traffic. What do you recommend to other entrepreneurs who are just starting out and trying to get their site exposure?

Learn from what others have done before you. We have had the benefit of learning from the experiences of members of our Board. For example, Stephen Kaufer (Board Member, Trip Advisor founder and CEO) has been extremely helpful in sharing his lessons learned from building the largest travel community in the world. In addition, we have spent time with other executives at some of the largest community / UGC driven services out there to help us think through the ways on which to build up site exposure. We also continue to hire community experts from local companies like Yahoo! /Flickr.

How do you see Glassdoor.com in the future?

This is a good question as it depends a lot on the needs of the employee and employer. Our goal is to continually improve upon Glassdoor so that it changes the existing paradigm to bring more transparency to the workplace to help people make critical choices about their career.

Are there any ventures you plan on pursuing after Glassdoor.com?

I’m fortunate that I have a job that I love and see plenty of potential in the future in which I can help to make Glassdoor a better career and workplace community.

How has your life changed since you started the site?

Well first I now live in the Bay Area whereas before I lived in Seattle and so I have had the chance to experience a new environment. In addition, I have been exposed to advantages and drawbacks that many individuals share when it comes to their work and careers. With this, I have been able to see that with transparency comes understanding and opportunity.

Can you tell us what inspires you?

In terms of Glassdoor, I am inspired all the time by the feedback and community engagement within the site. It’s a really exciting time for Glassdoor and feel fortunate to have the opportunity to help other people by giving them the tools and resources to make more informed decisions that impact the workplace and their careers.

What are your hobbies and interests outside of work?

I really enjoy traveling with my wife, Wendy, and we also like to get out into nature for a hike when the weather permits. When at home, you’ll probably find me curled up with a John Grisham novel unless a good football game is on TV. I’ve also been known to enjoy a nice bottle of wine now and then.

Do you have any experiences, advice, or anything else that you would like to share?

Don’t be afraid to take a chance if you are willing to work hard at an option that may seem more risky. I walked away from a secure job at Expedia with a good steady paycheck to try my hand at a start-up (Glassdoor). When we began last year, I was investing in the company rather than being paid to work there, but the opportunity to do this was something I knew I could believe in and in turn something that I could put my heart and mind into.

Thanks for taking time to do this great interview Tim!

Be sure to check out our review of Glassdoor.com

You’re an entrepreneur.  You work from home.  This is what you have always wanted to do.  The trouble is, you are lonely and find it hard to sit down and focus on your work.  You want to talk to people about your business, but no one seems to care to listen.  You try to get off your butt and do stuff, but you are reluctant because of your down feelings.

What do you do?

Well you have several options.

1. Give it up. The simple answer.  It was fun being an entrepreneur, but you need to be told what to do in an office with your boss and co-workers around you.  It may sound hard to believe, but these people add a presence to your daily life.  You look around, see others doing work and thereafter react by doing your own work.  You also have to do your work or else you get fired.
2. Set Targets. Act like your going into your office everyday.  At night or in the morning, set your to do list and goals for the day.  Have a meeting with yourself and go over what has to be done and what has been done.
3. Get Outside. Fresh air is a great feeling.  Sometimes your office gives you an overwhelming feeling.  Go for a walk, run, or play a sport.  Get your mind off work for a bit or think about how you are going to get back into the office after your run and do some effective work.
4. Get Online. You are an entrepreneur and their are many other entrepreneurs out there just like you.  Go to MeetUp.com and find local business/entrepreneurs groups.  Find forums that fit your interests.
5. Partner Up. Yes, you have to give up some of your business.  I know losing shares in your business may not be the most appealing thing, but you get someone to work with everyday.  You share decisions and can talk business.
6. Treat Yourself. This one is very important.  You devote all your time to your business and often forget about yourself.  Don’t forget that you are the one in charge.  You deserve something in return.  Whether it’s a day off or a gift, it’s a treat and it’s necessary!

This is straight out of the Investor’s Business Daily.  We had to share this with everyone.

They wrote: “Investor’s Business Daily has spent years analyzing leaders and successful people in all walks of life.  Most have 10 traits that, when combined can turn dreams into reality.” These 10 “secrets” are very insightful and make you think about everything.  Take a pen and write this list down.  Keep it as a reminder and checklist.

1) How You Think is Everything: Always be positive.  Think success, not failure.  Beware of negative environment.
If you think negative thoughts, you will get negative results.  If you think failure, you will fail.  Stay clear of negative people.  If someone is being negative; zone them out, move out of the conversation, and finally walk away.

2) Decide Upon Your True Dreams and Goals: write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them.
It is very important to write down your goals, but how can you achieve them? Visualize yourself completing your goals and your dreams a reality.

3) Take Action: Goals are nothing without action. Don’t be afraid to get started.  Just do it.
Move out of your comfort zone.  You have your idea and your goal.  You know what you have to do.

4) Never Stop Learning: Go back to school or read books.  Get training and acquire skills.
There is always more out there.  We often underestimate the importance of school and books.  Be the best at what you do.

5) Be Persistent and Work Hard: Success is a marathon, not a sprint.  Never give up.
Don’t be out of shape.  Be prepared to give it your all.

6) Learn to Analyze Details: Get all the facts, all the input.  Learn from your mistakes.
Research, Research, Research.

7) Focus Your Time and Money: Don’t let other people or things distract you.
Get in your zen.  Don’t forget that it is YOUR time and YOUR money.

Don’t be Afraid to Innovate: Be Different: Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.
Be the leader. Don’t let others make your decisions.  You make your own decisions.  What do you have, that others don’t?

9) Deal and Communicate with People Effectively: No person is an island.  Learn to understand and motivate others.
You are not the only one in this world.  You have to work with other people so do it well.

10) Be Honest and Dependable; Take Responsibility: Otherwise, Nos. 1-9 won’t matter.

The 10 secrets are out.  You decide what to do with them.  And remember, that this is a work in progress.

Confused about the title?!?!

Since all we hear in the news is the economic crisis we are going to do another article about it.  It is hard for many of us to believe that we are not part of the crisis.  Many of us think about how we fit in the crisis and how it is affected us.  But what we need to be thinking is how can we use it to our advantage.  James Flanagan of The New York Times wrote, “In the midst of this global economic crisis a substantial number of entrepreneurs, investors and venture capital financiers are interested in starting a company.” Hmm… lifting your spirits yet?

Although finding money may be difficult, entrepreneurs are digging further and looking for alternatives.  Two former executives out in California just started a Pharmaceutical company in hopes to aid developing country’s fight disease (Cure Pharmaceutical L.L.C.).  They need about $3 million and will be putting some of their own money in it, but also looking for funding through grants.  They have contacted the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in hopes for help.

Another California based company, Big Stage Entertainment is only two years old and has been able to get about $11 million in funding.  This company has a great concept.  “At BigStage.com, you can easily create a sophisticated, life-like 3-D model of your face.”  Phil Ressler, the company president, has done a great job finding capital.  He made a great point: “In bad times you have to move forward; you can’t save your way to success.”

Maybe it is possible to start a company during this so called “CRISIS.”

They found money, now it is your turn.  If you can come up with a great idea, you can come up with great ways to find capital.

Read the Full Article in the NY Times

“Entrepreneurism and innovation will be the path to revive our economy,” said Kansas Senate President Steve Morris, a Hugoton Republican.

The Kansas City Star Newspaper explains how entrepreneurs create jobs and wealth in the economy. This article discussed the importance for entrepreneur support and funding.

Some positive reinforcement to entrepreneurs in this struggling economy. Some say it is not the time to start a business, but support is popping up everywhere. We can still thrive.