A small-scale or meager-budget business or enterprise. When a firm doesn’t have the resources or intention to spend much money on a project, it is said to be running a shoestring operation or earmarking a shoestring budget for that project. Shoestring also refers to situations where capital is barely adequate. For example, it is usually said: “a company has started on a shoestring”; that is, without enough capital. Although a shoestring budget or capital is considered below normal limits, a company may be able to profit from an insufficient-budget project, if other factors are taken into account such as its expertise, monopolistic power, favorable business environment and so on. In investment terms, if a company can properly manage to reduce its projects’ initial costs, its return on investment (ROI) would be remarkably improved.