When Wendy Buckley, 32, decided to leave her six-figure a year job to start her own wine bar during a recession, her friends and family naturally thought she might have been sampling a bit too much of the crazy juice. Dreams are funny things, though. Click to see how Wendy is making her wine bar dream come alive.

Every news outlet and publication is touting save save save, so this message should not be new to many of you. But, when it comes to starting a small business, every spare dime matters.

Rome wasn't built in a day, but you might be surprised how long it actually takes to build out a 1650 sq. ft. wine bar and retail shop. Well, we are just about to start construction and the process has taken three months so far, and that does not include the year it took to procure a space.

No one ever tells you this, but there is a whole lot of "hurry up and wait" involved in starting a small business. I really hope I don't come across as terse, but I have the least amount of patience possible when it comes to waiting for someone else to make a decision or get back to me with an answer. But, unfortunately, it's all part of the game.

Keeping business costs down is essential, and we try to save money wherever possible. As you find deals that sound too good to be true, how do you know you aren't getting scammed? Click to see Wendy's adventure in buying from an unknown company halfway around the world.