Going Beyond Bootstrapping

You’ve managed to launch your business on a couple of hundred bucks. You built your enterprise by bootstrapping, following your business plan, working really hard.

You’re moving along, grabbing from your toolbag of bootstrapping magic tricks to inch forward. You’re borrowing from Peter to pay that irksome Paul, and it’s really not much fun anymore.

Best Way to Bootstrap your Business.

You can get past this challenge. If you have a marketable product or service, you can get past this onerous stage and start capitalizing.

How?

Get help.

Two very little, immensely powerful words.

Get help by asking for it.

What I have seen work...

Do a search for venture capitalists, industry giants, incubators, resources in your area. Comb the web to see if there are opportunities for you as a partner, or as a candidate for economic or research investment.

Leverage Equity - Cash investments are a good way to create long-term partnerships to build your business. Leveraging equity has become a popular way for business owners to trade equity for the expertise of their investors. As an entrepreneur, you have a lot to gain from their knowledge and experience without having to incur extensive costs and in return, these investors can earn a stake in your venture.

Conceive a joint venture plan with a colleague that will boost sales for both of you.

Carefully weigh the benefits of contracting with service providers vs. the cost you’ll incur. If you can contract out parts of your operation – accounts payable, for instance, or marketing or scheduling – would the time you free up for yourself bring increased income?

Consider aligning with a larger corporation. Why would you do this? Obviously, the start-up would benefit from learning from the larger corporate entity. The larger company has years of experience in the space and have already mastered the art of operations and scaling.

Why would a larger company consider doing this ? Start-ups are a more agile culture. Working with start-ups can bring back more openness to innovation and intrapreneurship. In a fast-changing business environment, it is important to foster a culture of openness that allows for innovation as much as for failures on the way to new solutions.

Getting past a challenging point in the evolution of a business is a big accomplishment. Many entrepreneurs report astronomical growth made possible by forming liaisons with other individuals or organizations.

If you are worried about the loss of personal control when you partner with others, you can relax. Your risk in this department is only as great as you allow it to be. Most partnerships rely on the continued autonomous strength of both parties.

Strategic partnerships will propel your business beyond bootstrapping to success.

Take the leap!

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