Hands go up, suggesting answers: “Other people’s money.” “Loans from friends or family.” “Venture capitalists.” “Savings.” “Refinancing your house.”

Yes, all those are ways to finance a business, but I’ve yet to have any one give the best answer: sales.

The very best way — I didn’t say the easiest, but the best way — to get money to finance your business is to go out there and make sales. There’s even a term for this: “bootstrapping.” like the name suggests, it means pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps (does anyone even have bootstraps any more???) rather than depending on others.

If you’re following USA TODAY’s Small Business Challenge — and of course you are — you’ll note that this month, the focus is on financing. During this Challenge, USA TODAY is following the progress of five start-up entrepreneurs. each month, I — and my two fellow USA TODAY small-business columnists, Gladys Edmunds and Steve Strauss, provide one-on-one coaching to the entrepreneurs.

As we answered the entrepreneurs’ questions about raising money, not surprisingly, Edmunds, Strauss and I each — independently — emphasized the same thing: go out there and start making sales. as Edmunds advised the owners of Poppa D’s, Lee Goldberg and Rodney Hughes, “If you don’t have customers, you don’t have a business.”

Now, of course, not all businesses can be built entirely on sales. Certain types of businesses need upfront capital. You can’t open a retail store or restaurant, build a new manufacturing plant without significant financing.

But you can start small and less expensively, especially if you’re a novice entrepreneur. Instead of opening a restaurant, begin with small-scale catering or being a private chef. Instead of opening a dress shop, launch an eBay store or conduct in-home sales parties. Developing a new product? Build a few prototypes and start selling. I had a client, the founder of Mountain Board Sports, that hand-made a few prototypes, took them to a sporting goods trade show, got orders and launched the business.

Sure, even these enterprises require some funding. but the risk is much smaller. You’re more likely to be able to self-fund these low-cost starter businesses. You won’t have to risk your home (or in some cases, your day job).

Why are sales the best way to raise money for your new business?

1. No investors. Investors not only take a piece of any future profits, they also have a say in decision-making. that may be a benefit if you have knowledgeable, patient investors, but it can often be a distraction and source of tension.

2. No monthly loan payments. Even if you’re fortunate enough to get a long-term business loan, and that’s not easy, you’re going to have to start making monthly payments right away. that means your overhead is higher, increasing stress.

3. it focuses your attention on your business. Here’s something no one tells you: Raising money takes up a lot of your time. It’s really, really time-consuming to find investors or get a loan. Instead, you can spend your time and energy improving your product or service and finding paying customers.

4. You learn a lot about your market. when you’re out there making sales, you get vital real-life, real-time market info. It’s the very best kind of market research. it helps you improve your product or service, refine your pricing, and learn about new opportunities.

Of course, there are some downsides to using sales your main financing source:

First, it’s slow. while raising outside money is time consuming, ideally, once you raise it, you’ll get a chunk of change all at once. With sales, the money generally trickles in, so your growth is slower.

Most of all, it’s scary. Let’s face it: It’s a lot more fun to plan a business than to make a sales call. It’s often even easier to call on a banker or investor than to actually call on a prospect.

But here’s the reality: making sales is the critical component of being in business. so if you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to get out there and sell!

Rhonda Abrams is president of The Planning Shop, publisher of books for entrepreneurs. Her newest book is Hire your first Employee: the entrepreneur’s guide to finding, choosing, and leading great people. Register for Rhonda’s free business tips at PlanningShop.com. For an index of her columns, click here. Twitter: twitter.com/RhondaAbrams. Copyright Rhonda Abrams 2010.