He had to be willing to be uncomfortable long enough to push through. In fact he probably invested his life savings - but you don't need to. For example, take a look at a typical franchise operation. People buy a franchise to take advantage of someone else's groundwork. The franchise supplies a proven marketing system and you usually supply most or all of your life savings.
Most franchises succeed precisely because people invest too much into it.
They put themselves into a position where they can't afford to fail. On the downside, you never totally own a franchise. Usually they want part of the action in the form of residual income. The Internet has made it easier than it's ever been to dream a dream and turn it into reality. Affiliate programs make it possible to sell products independently.