Starting a business can be extremely costly. Costs for licenses and permits, renting a space, purchasing equipment – just to name a few. And on top of this, it’s very rare for startups to receive investment funding. This means that all of these costs will have to come from out-of-pocket.
If you have a brilliant business idea but not the funds for a substantial investment, “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps” may be the route to take. Successfully bootstrapping your startup will require that you handle as many of the tasks yourself as possible because you won’t have a big team to delegate to, at least not at first.
By not outsourcing work at this point, you’ll be saving a great deal of money.
Build your skillset
Granted, you may not be highly skilled in performing every task that goes into building a startup.
I’m here to tell you, it’s never too late to learn. By investing time learning some of the fundamentals of starting a business, you’ll end up investing less monetarily.
Several websites offer free courses to learn the skills you’ll need for starting your business. Skills like digital marketing, copywriting, graphic design, and more.
Even better is that many online courses you can do on your time, and they only take a few hours a week. Coursera.org is an excellent resource for finding free online courses, with the option to purchase a certificate for completion.
Remember, the more you can do with your own two hands, the more successful you’ll be at bootstrapping your business. Plus, it never hurts to have a few new tricks up your sleeve!
Be modest
Instead of paying generously for an oversized, modern office-space with a seaside view, consider looking into renting co-working space.
You can always upgrade later, but your wallet will thank you if you wait for a steady stream of income to do this. Browse a platform like coworker.com for shared workspace options. Find sufficient office space and save money at the same time.
Another tip would be to consider waiting a bit until you quit your day job. Seeing a steady income of revenue from your new business may take a while. But there’s no shame in having a job on the side until that day comes.
It’s all about being patient and putting yourself out there. Although, putting yourself out there doesn’t have to mean putting yourself at financial risk. Even searching for side gigs on a platform like Upwork can help give you a financial cushion while you wait for your new business to skyrocket.
Know your free resources
Handling tasks yourself will only save you money if you don’t have to splurge on expensive software. The good news is, there are plenty of free software options available for every step of starting your business.
WordPress, for example, is a free CMS for building a sophisticated website that’s sure to impress. It boasts every feature you can imagine for turning your website vision into reality. What’s more, this CMS comes with tons of great plugins available, one of which being Yoast, which is a free SEO plug-in that adds tons of value. Two money savers in one.
Graphic design software can also be quite an expensive investment.
Although, it doesn’t have to be. Using free tools and creating your own designs can also end up saving you loads of money. For an all-around, multi-functional design tool, Canva is a reputable platform. Anything from presentations to social media post designs can be done with Canva. Or for the simple task of designing a logo, you can do this quickly and easily with logocreator.io.
Another great tool is DesignCap. With lots of free, customizable templates, you can create a great looking brand, design logos, craft presentations and a ton more – really easily.
Endnote
Keep in mind the general rule of thumb in bootstrapping, which is: you have to put in that sweat equity for it to work.
Contribute as much to your new business as possible, on your own, and with as little monetary investment as possible. If you work strategically, you absolutely can build your startup with minimal debt or recurring costs.
Just imagine then, how sweet the reward will be when that revenue starts pouring in!
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- The Entrepreneurs Guide to Bootstrapping a Startup - December 29, 2020
