Bootstrapping : The Poor Little Rich Idea
Posted by Abdul Vasi on 24 May 2007 at 8:07 pm | Tagged as:
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One of my friends had always wanted to start something on his own. However, he did not. Until now, at least. He apparently feels that he needs a lot of money to start a business and he waits to strike gold some time in the “near” future.
Can you guess where the fallacy in his thinking is? Two things - Unnecessary procrastination and the mistaken belief that you need a lot of money to start a business.
If you have read Chicken Soup For Entrepreneur’s Soul, there is not a single story in that book where an entrepreneur started with millions. Most of them start from scratch, from their own savings or borrowed money. There is something about being an entrepreneur and the pride that calls for building an empire from scratch.
There is however an effective way to minimize the scathing effects of a very troublesome and challenge ridden ‘empire building process’ . It’s called Bootstrapping - cutting costs even before they occur. Being a miser to become a spend thrift later. Starting with nothing and running with nothing too. Starting solo, reducing on start-up costs, office space on lease or rent to minimize costs, working solo and wearing all hats from the janitor to the CEO. Smart, ain’t it? Where are the costs? Minimal.
That, dear entrepreneur, is probably the way to go for you.
Great write :).
Precise and to the point. One more point I would want to put forth — A wanna be entrepreneur needs to have an hawk’s eye. Look around, a lot of business are being begged to be revamped, but how many do we realize ?
Just because, a system already exists, it doesn’t mean that it has to be the best.
There were Search Engines even before Google was conceived
All Success,
well said vasi
happy to see your blog 
Good read! Bootstrapping is indeed a good way for entrepreneurs to start small and slow, and end up with more than what you had in the beginning. I would suggest you read this article:
http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/the_art_of_boot.html
This blog contains discusses many factors that are critical to a entrepreneur. It has sound advice as well. Check it out.