We’ve discussed the cheap revolution before. It’s the notion that you can do so many things today and use countless services for a fraction of what they used to cost. This helps drive entrepreneurship and it helps people sell products or services without a huge support organization. You can be a one-person wrecking crew, using email, the web and social media to network, chase leads and close sales.

That said, there are still some older traditions that you shouldn’t abandon. While you may not need a fancy office and a receptionist answering phones, you should have a web site or other online presence, and you should have things like business cards. The online and mobile worlds are important, but person-to-person networking is still critical.

But here the cheap revolution helps as well. You can access business card printing services online and avoid all the hassles of the past. It’s easier and cheaper and you get exactly what you want. So do all the new media stuff, but never abandon old methods of meeting people in person and exchanging business cards.

This is a great trend. With easy high-speed Internet access and improved technology, more people can work anywhere they like, and many of them are choosing to work at the beach.

While you’re Dilberting away in your cubicle, there are people taking conference calls in board shorts and flip-flops. While you’re saving your two weeks of vacation to hit the sand, they’re getting paid to be there. There are people—even respectable people—who have somehow turned a folding chair into a place of work.

Aided by technology, pioneers are now converting the beach into a fully functional office. People who work from the beach in non-hotel, non-burger-stand, non-pot-dealer capacities are still rare enough that no agency tracks the phenomenon. Brooks Brothers does not yet make a three-piece bathing suit; Herman Miller doesn’t sell an Aeron chaise.

It’s not like these beach workers are slackers; they just don’t like being controlled. It’s the same reason why we TiVo shows or e-mail and text more than call. When you can work from wherever you want to be—especially if it’s the place where everyone wants to be—work isn’t so bad.

It helps to be self-employed.

Yes, it definitely helps to be self-employed. It’s frankly one of the best reasons to take control of your career and start your own business from home . . . or the beach.

That said, this option is open to everyone who is willing to take more control of their career. Sure, you may not be able to do it all the time, but you’d be surprised how often you can escape the office if you begin to train your boss.

This is one of the arguments popularized by Tim Ferris. Check out his site at 4-Hour Workweek for ways to do this. In a nutshell, they key is showing your boss over time that you can spend days away from the office and still be just as productive. Once you establish this, it won’t matter whether you do this from your home or from an exotic beach. He doesn’t have to know and he shouldn’t care if he does.

Is the life of an entrepreneur for everyone? Probably not, as it can be rather demanding and it’s hard to imagine living that life unless you have a passion for business or for the service or product you choose.

The next question involves whether you can learn to be an entrepreneur. Some people may want to do it, but they really aren’t prepared to make a successful go of it.

The subject of entrepreneurship is becoming very popular at business schools as this notion is being tested.

Twenty years ago teaching people how to start their own businesses was a sideshow at B-schools, of scant interest to future consultants and Wall Streeters. Today entrepreneurship education is everywhere. More than two-thirds of U.S. colleges and universities — well over 2,000, up from 200 in the 1970s — are teaching it, and they offer it to all comers: social workers, farmers, and even musicians. The field is thriving, but have we figured out yet the best way to teach this stuff? If not, are we at least getting better at it? And can you even teach someone to be an entrepreneur?

This makes perfect sense, as many entrepreneurs have a passion for their product but have little experience running a business, while many business professionals can’t grasp some of the risk assessments that entrepreneurs make every day. It’s amazing how spending your own money focuses the mind!

What’s taught in these courses?

By developing in students the proper attitude toward risk, for instance. Entrepreneurship isn’t about the love of living on the edge; that’s pure myth. “You’re all about de-risking your idea,” says Fairbrothers. He means one, identifying, unblinkingly, what could go wrong; and two, taking whatever steps necessary to slash the odds that it will. You do that by relentless learning — about your market, your customers, your competitors, and if you’re truly new at this, about the nuts and bolts of business.

If you take a close look at this proposition, you would thing that every business student should be required to take a course in entrepreneurship. Understanding risk is critical to any endeavor, and this notion should be drilled into every person in your organization, whether you’re simply a manager or an entrepreneur.

You also need to be thinking about the best ways to save money while your business gets off the ground. Moneysavingguide.com can help you brainstorm some ideas to keep your costs under control.