Books
The belief that owning and operating your own business and understanding how to manage your money puts you in control of your financial future caused Leah Ward-Lee and Tony Lee to write and publish $1,000 Start-Ups, 60 Business for Micro-Entrepreneurs…and How to Start Them and The Bartender’s Guide to Financial Freedom. After receiving feedback from the books, asking if there were courses, they partnered in 2018 and published each as a course.
When the pandemic shut down businesses in March 2020, Leah and Tony became acutely aware that communities that were traditionally underserved were affected disproportionately.
To provide income and reentry opportunity they began offering their courses based on the concepts and practices in the books with up to $1,000 business start-up funding to those who completed the program. This led to the formation of The $1,000 Start-Ups Consortium as a 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization.
The books are available to anyone and can be useful and practical resources for those considering starting a business.

$1,000 Start-Ups: 60 Businesses for Micro-Entrepreneurs… and How to Start Them
If you’re a Micro-Entrepreneur and want to start a new business this it the book for you: It tells you what you need to know to get started and it provides you the information to make the decision. Spending less than $1,000 to get a business started: lets you ‘try out’ a business to see if it fits, gets you to ‘rinse and repeat’ quickly, causes you to master every role in the business, limits your exposure while you see if it will work, and can be your path to financial independence. For each of the 60 businesses you will learn: what specialized and general knowledge you need, how the business makes money, everything you need to know to set-up the business, how to market the business to find customers, what a ‘Day in the Life of’ a business owner is like, start-up costs, monthly costs, sage advice from business owners, and resources you can use to learn even more. You also get the tools you need to: write your business plan, legally establish your business, keep basic financial and tax records, and develop your marketing plan.
$1000 Start-Up Workbook
The book, $1,000 Start-Ups, provides entrepreneurs with templates for 60 businesses that could be started for less than $1,000. The workbook walks you through: making the decision, planning your business start-up and operations, setting your business and yourself up for success, and addressing any issue that is in your way.
The Bartender’s Guide to Financial Freedom
A 10-Step guide to financial freedom written by someone who learned the tough way, for those who get paid, often in cash, on a daily basis.
If you are in Nassau County, books can be purchased at our Small Business Fairs or at
Story & Song Bookstore
1430 Park Ave
Fernandina Beach, FL 32034