This article appeared in Forbes under Entrepreneurs.  It’s about a chef in Birmingham, Alabama who has now opened his second bootstrap restaurant – says people pay for food, not the $600,000 kitchen. This point can be made on most projects, from clothes to home purchases and remodeling:  If your budget is $XXX, do you really need to spend that much if $XX works?

Birmingham, Ala., chef Chris Dupont opened his first restaurant with $7,000 in the 1990s and last month debuted Tau Poco with an opening budget of just under $13,000. He shares tips for opening an eatery on a tiny budget, starting with tuning out advice about all the things you must have to open and applying affordable upgrades to existing low-cost spaces. “Ultimately, you’ll be graded on the food. Diners do not come back because you put in a $600,000 kitchen — they’re coming to eat the food,” he said.  Here’s the article.