I'd be cautious about starting a small business without a financial backbone. Small businesses have high failure rates, especially as we hobble out of the recession. The cost rack up faster than most people imagine. Additionally, it helps to have extra money saved because in small business, it's go hard or go home. You'll want to put every penny into that business to make it succeed. If you don't, you'll wonder what if. If you do and don't have extra money lying around afterward, you'll be saddled with debt.
I believe small business can go anywhere from 6 months to a 3 years before a profit can reasonably be expected. I believe I read that somewhere.

My financial epiphany occurred after college (22) I saved a bunch of money during school, spent it on European Trip then had a bunch of loans. It hit me how much money I'd wasted (not on the trip).
I could also say my epiphany started much earlier as I watched my parents struggle with money. Growing up seeing the frustration (of which i have now), I hoped never to be in a situation where my finances were dominated by bills I couldn't pay.

I'm still financially educating myself. I set my parents up on Quicken to help their finances and learned much myself. I was also blessed because I saw the decision of my parents and learned naturally what's not good to do. Since then I've grown a lot listening Podcasts (NPR Planet Money, NY Times, WSJ, Money Girl) to educate myself. Having recently discovered Ninja, that's helped a lot too, especially sharing it with my girlfriend.

Total debt: $11,180

All student loan debt @ 5.25 %

Original balance: 2 accounts at $18,500 in Aug. 2007

Plan to be deft free: April 2014

Sadly, I save away a lot, but start at such a low income, I'm not able to put as much to loans as I'd like.