Sizable Returns It doesn't matter how much money you have to begin with. These entrepreneurs prove even the smallest start-up can grow up to be big and strong.

It's happened to all of us. Sitting, standing or sleeping, we've all had that epiphanic moment when a bright idea for a great business becomes clear. But if you think it takes millions to start a successful business, you're wrong. Each of the following entrepreneurs started with relatively little money and parlayed it into lucrative ventures, cutting corners whenever they could along the way. Although times may have been tough working with little capital, these entrepreneurs prove that although money makes the world go round, you can't judge a business by the size of its start-up.

MooRoo Handbags: Less Than $40K
Talk about taking a dream and making it come true. After stay-at-home mom Mary Norton dreamt about three handbags one night during the summer of 1998, she recreated them the next day, spending about $50 in materials. Norton then let her baby-sitter, who happened to be a manager of a store in Charleston, South Carolina, take the bags to see how they'd sell. At $40 each, they were gone in 45 minutes. When people asked for the brand name, the baby-sitter merged the nicknames of Norton's two children and came up with MooRoo Handbags.

Norton never aspired to be an entrepreneur, but she continued making bags on her dining room table and wholesaling to local boutiques. To test the popularity of her bags with a larger audience, she called the New York Chamber of Commerce and declared innocently: "I heard y'all do trade shows and fashion shows. I was interested in doing that." They directed her to the Jacob K. Javitz Convention Center, from which she got the number for a company putting on a show. Norton, who had no fashion or trade show experience, learned about taking orders from a retailer quickly. Not knowing she could ship ahead, she hauled 14 duffel bags filled with purses to the show. Though she may have lacked trade-show savvy, Norton still walked away with $65,000 in orders.