Raising cash in a hurry #25: Start your own business

Update May 2009: Hundreds of thousands of newly unemployed people are coming to the sudden realization that cell phones, laptops and coffee shops with Wifi have opened up a brave new world for the self-employed.

If you're going to do it right, it's not always a quick way to earn cash. But earning money by starting your own business can be a fast way to bring money into your account.

A little over 10 years ago, I started freelancing for Entrepreneur magazine. Since then, I've interviewed hundreds of CEOs, of mostly small and medium-sized businesses, though every once in awhile I'd talk to someone who looms large, like the founder of Monster.com. Oddly enough, I don't remember meeting anyone and leaving them, thinking that they were in the business solely for the money, but that ultimately is what everyone wants to make. That green stuff gives an entrepreneur the chance to keeping doing what they love, and when they get a lot of it, it's a good measuring stick that their company is successful.