Yesterday, I read an article posted at Bootstrap Me entitled: “Bootstrapping Brings Competitive Advantage” and it really got me thinking, so I wanted to make a post about it here today. As bootstrappers, we’re often times faced with the doubters and non-believers who will constantly tell us that we’re unable to accomplish what we set out to do because we lack the connections, or the funds, or some X factor that is what they believe to make a business BOOM. I believe the exact opposite from what they believe and know that you should too.
In this article, I want to cover a little bit about what Shawn Hessinger talks about in his article and also touch on some points I believe should be discussed. Feel free to drop me a comment at the end of this article and let me know your thoughts as well. I’d love to hear them.
Creativity will shine in the bootstrapper
When dealing with a multi-national, well funded company that has 1,000 employees and 10 bank loans, the odds of anyone in their business straying from the old path their owner told them to use is slim-to-none. For the bootstrapper, we strive on the wooded, unchartered land that we walk through on a daily basis to make it to the other side. Our creativity is something that no one can take from us and a great gift that we have.
Regardless if you’re creating a guerrilla marketing campaign or trying to figure out what not to do when talking to a client, you’re using your creativity and thinking outside the box and the results with show that doing this boost sales to a higher percentage; much higher then a traditional sales and marketing approach. Plus, we have fun when we’re being creative, so work doesn’t seem like work to us.
Less room for error brings better results
Lets face it, if you have 2 months to complete a project, the odds of you finishing in the first week are very slim. At the same time, if you’ve got a 2 day deadline, I bet that the same project could be completed. Why? When bootstrappers know that there’s something to be done and it has to be done quick, we’re right on it and putting in the work needed to complete it quickly. We don’t have the luxury that big corporations have when dealing with product deadlines and promoting our company.
I know from experience that I can design websites in a matter of 2 days and make around $1,000 dollars. Yes, there’s more work time involved in a short period, and a bit more stress, but there are a lot of times that those same jobs can linger on for a week. When faced with a deadline, or the thought of knowing you’re the only person that can get the job done, bootstrapping becomes a driving force behind some super-charged work and really benefits the bootstrapper.
While we’re in our offices (spare bedrooms, garage, basement or other make-shift office) putting in 10-14 hour days on sales, customer service, product building and promoting, the big exec. in his high-end office is relaxing far too much and letting his/her employees get away with far too much slacking off on the job. As bootstrappers, we don’t have a second chance when creating our product. We don’t have 20,000 dollars to toss away on T.V. promotion campaigns that don’t work. So, with the added pressure, comes better, and faster results.
Bootstrapping a business gives a greater amount of flexibility
When you accept a big loan from an external source, you become a slave to their thoughts, ideas and plans. You no longer have your own way of doing things because you have to run every decision by them first. Bootstrapping is about unconventional thinking, split second decision making and doing things against the grain of normal businesses, so adding an external funding source to the mix only complicates the true essence of the bootstrapper.
Doing things your own way, on your own time and at your own pace is one of the main reasons people leave their 9-5 jobs and start their own business. The majority of the time, these same people will end up taking bank loans to fund their start-ups and wind up in the same mindless cycle they were leaving to begin with. Why put yourself through that?
For instance, I am up at 2am right now writing this article. Do you think that I could do that if I were writing for a company who had strict deadlines and time-frames they wanted me to work in? I also design late at night like this, partially because a lot of my work comes from overseas so I catch a lot of clients this way, but also because during the day, I find myself less focused and creative compared to during the night like this. If I wasn’t bootstrapping and doing things my way, I wouldn’t have the freedom to do these things.
Bootstrapping is supposed to be fun!
No matter what, always remember to have some fun when you’re bootstrapping your business. If not, you’ll end up hating your job and crawling back to your former employers, begging for your jobs back. None of us want that, and I don’t want to see anyone have to do that, so please, enjoy yourself. If you’re doing some crazy promotional work that is so out of the box, no one would believe it would work; smile while doing it. If you’re on the phone with a client, explaining how the new service you offer would benefit their family members; smile and laugh while doing it. Having fun will make life go by at a much smoother pace, regardless of the things happening around you.
Agreed on “less room for error brings better results.” It’s amazing what you can do when you’re put to the test. When deadlines approach, you work that much harder and you’re capable of doing things that you didn’t think were possible. But this is sometimes not true for some people, who wilt under the pressure. But for strong willed individuals, I think its a generally accurate statement.
Hi Turtie,
Yeah, I should have mentioned that, there are some people who will allow stress to break them down. For most bootstrappers though, we’ve got the mindset to use fear as a fuel to do more with their time.
I like the bit about launching a website in 2 days. I think this becomes possible with experience and modularized code and design to grab onto. I recently launched aiburn.com. It took me about 2 weeks (around client project) to design, build, and launch.
I will be launching other sites that I have planned with a similar layout, look, and feel. I’m confident I can launch those much quicker because the foundation is already in place. It will allow me to take ideas and run with them. So, I’m gearing up to build quickly. I’m alligning my processes and getting my back of tricks together.
Thanks for the article.
Hi Sean, thanks for the comment. I totally know what you mean about having the pre-made type of resources to create things sooner. I have a folder of layouts I’ve created so when I go to create a new website, I can find different ajax, css and php codes that I’ve done before that work perfectly and cut down on time greatly.
I like your site by the way. I love the design.
I’m glad you like the article. Feel free to stumble or digg it if you get a second
“As bootstrappers, we’re often times faced with the doubters and non-believers who will constantly tell us that we’re unable to accomplish what we set out to do”
How true is that! For myself, I feed on those comments. Those are the comments that don’t bog me down but motivate me even more. But I have to beware that I am not just being stubborn and hard-headed.
But I guess my biggest fear is, what will be my safety net when I start a new business? Do I have anything or anyone I can fall back on?
Hi Daniel, I know exactly what you mean. I am hard-headed as well, so I have to keep myself grounded in my thoughts as to not jump up and do something irrational just because someone said I couldn’t. Maybe that will be a good follow-up article
The safety net is good to have, but oftentimes it’s unnecessary. I’m speaking for myself here, but if I know I HAVE to get X amount of dollars by the 1st of the month, I will do everything in my power to do that. 10-12 hour days, no sleep, ect. I’ll create my results the way I want them. Some people though aren’t built for that type of pressure, so that’s ok as well, and a safety net is needed for them.
My suggestion would be to freelance and start your own business while doing your regular job. Put every waking minute you have into the business and push it as hard as you can. SAVE EVERYTHING YOU MAKE! If you’ve been living off your day job, then the money made from this will be fine to stack up and hold onto.
Once you get 3-6 months worth of money together to live off of, then you can take the plunge. This way, even with rough spots, you’ll have backup cash. Just pretend it isn’t there though, and you’ll 90% of the time, make the money you need without touching the emergency funds
Great post! It’s always good to read a re-affirmation that it’s meant to be fun!
I know it’s obvious a lot of the time, but it’s occasionally easy to get bogged down under some of the real-world difficulties and damned hard work that bootstrapping brings.
Hi Lee,
I am glad you enjoyed the post. It’s definitely easy to get torn down by the every day routines we call “life”
Mike