However if you are so fortunate to do this it is a good idea to hire people with college degrees and surround yourself with intelligent, capable, reputable people. That will help you stay in a position to keep hiring the best and improving your company.

Bill Gates, Dave Thomas, Howard Hughes, Sam Walton and Mary Kay Ash are a few who've done it without college degrees.

Like minded people are great, but the best benefit is with people who can add something you don't to your perspective.

Networking with anyone who can give you perspective, information, good contacts, access to whatever you need and they can also be your best customers and or proponents, and you can be theirs.

There is so much that people who work in diverse areas can do for each other if they will, it's mind boggling as any potentially exponential situation can be. The possibilities are only limited to what the minds involved can grasp, and numbers and diverse points of view only multiply the possibilities.

edit: That Menelas punk is going around copying others answers verbatim. Not only this one, I've seen him do others, like this one: What are some good products I can purchase to sell on e-bay?.

You're going onto someone else's property. As children we're taught not to tresspass, and as adults we're aware that we're invading someone's "personal space" when we step onto their property.

There's also the concern that you will indeed annoy the homeowner, or wake him/her up, or disturb a meal, television show, or even an intimate activity.

I discard flyers left on my door. I also usually don't answer the door if it's someone soliciting. I'm not rude to cold callers, but I firmly tell them, "No thank you, I'm not interested."

You don't mention what your business is. There are many ways you can advertise for free. You may want to ask local businesses to put up a (professional-looking) flyer for you. You may want to write a Letter To The Editor of your local newspaper describing your new business, or even send them a small press release about your business.

Cold-calling and leaving flyers make a lot of people nervous. I don't think there's a way to get around the fear other than to simply become used to it and develop a thick skin in case you annoy someone.