“I started a cold air balloon business, but I’m having trouble getting it off the ground”

Start-up businesses try to get “off the ground,” but usually not literally. A joke was posted on AnimalJokes.co.uk in 2003:
   
“Did you hear about the pig who tried to start a hot-air balloon business? He couldn’t get it off the ground.”
   
“Hot air” is sometimes changed to “cold air” in the joke. “I started a cold air balloon business but I’m having trouble getting it off the ground” was posted on Twitter on October 6, 2015.
 
         
AnimalJokes.co.uk (July 5, 2003)
Did you hear about the pig who tried to start a hot-air balloon business?
He couldn’t get it off the ground.
 
Twitter
SnotRag Dave‏
@SnotRagDave
Replying to @lordlikely
@lordlikely There was the time I started a hot-air balloon business.  Never got off the ground.
3:34 PM - 27 Aug 2009
 
Twitter
vanessa_willims‏
@vanessa_willims
Did you hear about the pig who tried to start a hot-air balloon business? He couldn’t get it off the ground. .
5:48 AM - 22 Sep 2009
 
Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Really Silly Jokes:
Humour for the whole family
Edited by Geoff Tibballs
London, UK: Constable & Robinson Ltd
2011
Pg. ?:
What happened to the man who tried to start a hotair balloon business?
He couldn’t get it off the ground.
 
Google Books
Sensible Nonsense.. Frank’s Comic Pack:
Humour Pack Series
By Frank Paul
BookBaby
2014
Pg. ?:
Did you hear about the pig who tried to start a hot-air balloon business? He couldn’t get it off the ground.
     
Twitter
calehartmann‏
@calehartmann
I started a cold air balloon business but I’m having trouble getting it off the ground.
11:49 AM - 6 Oct 2015
 
Reddit—Jokes
I started a cold air balloon business.
submitted August 6, 2016 by cantlearnham
I’m having trouble getting it off the ground.
 
Twitter
Funny Bot‏
@lAmFunnyBot
I started a cold air balloon business.: I’m having trouble getting it off the ground.
5:31 PM - 7 Aug 2016
 
Reddit—Oneliners
I started a cold air balloon business but I’m having trouble getting it off the ground. (self.oneliners)
submitted September 25, 2017 by cantlearnham