Wednesday, July 18 by Gina Laverde in Bootstrapping | 3 Comments
We all made fun of my friend when he first started his business – because he was the youngest lawyer we’d ever known and, and came to work each morning braces- faced and ready to take over the world. But, this guy scoffed at the heckling and began making his mark at the ripe age of 23. He never seemed to worry about what to charge because he knew he was good. In fact, he knew he was better than his competition.
It costs money to talk to this guy. And people, even seemingly broke people fork it up willingly because they know that he is going to help them and treat them right. He has taught me that there is no such thing as free time, when you’re running a start-up. If you’ve got some free time it should only be spent on yourself and your loved ones. When clients dip into that time – make them pay.
Now, whether you charge $100, $500 or $1000 is up to you, but you need to consider the ebbs and flows of work when setting your price. If your goal is to make 60,000 in your first year, then you need to factor in how much you need to make per day. If you are only actively doing “work” (that pays) two days a week – then you need to increase your hourly wage.
Free consultations and pro-bono work have their place in my heart and business, and they should in yours as well. And, if you set your standard rates as high as they can be – you can afford to eat and chat with clients for free. Remember – people pay for quality.
Tuesday, July 17 by David Askaripour in Bootstrapping, How To | 8 Comments
As an entrepreneur my whiteboard has become a must-have for my startup. Brainstorming ideas, sketching website designs out, and working out problems are all a part of using the big whiteboard that’s hanging up on my wall. I paid around $50 for mine, but you can cut that price in half by making your own:
…some white tileboard from the bathroom section of Home Depot will work just as well. 4×8 sheets are under $20, letting you cover an entire wall for less than the cost of buying something off-the-shelf. Cover that woodgrain panelling with dry erase paradise using the tips from Kevin Kelly’s Marker Board Walls.
Make Your Own Floor-to-Ceiling Whiteboard [ lockergnome’s Doing It ]
Wednesday, July 11 by Gina Laverde in Bootstrapping | 2 Comments
Are you running your business on a shoe-string budget, with a crappy computer and recycled office supplies? I am. And, the thought occurred to me yesterday as I shifted my lap-top screen on its broken hinge – that I couldn’t have it any other way.
I wasn’t raised poor – but we had no money. I fought for the right to go to the college of my choice. I applied for scholarships and loans, and I worked my way through the expenses. Many times, I had to watch friends go out to clubs and dinners that I couldn’t afford. But, the experience of having so little money really fueled my fire.
Coming from a background where riches were scarce taught me to rely on my brain, my ambition and my creativity. But that’s not it. My senses have been heightened, my awareness and acceptance of others has grown, and my determination to succeed has multiplied. I am this determined because I have not been given much material substance to start or maintain my business.
It’s great to have investors, and it takes talent to get them. It’s awesome to come from money and have the help of family. And, a hefty bank account full of your life’s earnings would sure make a great difference in the start of your business. But none of these things are necessary.
Sometimes, like in my case, the lack of these things gives us enough determination to really succeed. And, those of us who are not blessed with monetary support may actually have been blessed with the ability to become more resourceful – and in the end better business people.
When you’re playing this game without the bank on your side you will need to be extra critical of your own decisions. Your purchases should be carefully budgeted. And, you should connect with some helpful young entrepreneurs like yourself, and share resources. When determination is high – you can go many places, but you can go even further with the help of others.
Forget the high-end tech gadgets, and focus on a step by step plan to reaching your goals. You don’t need all of the stuff that other entrepreneurs are using in their businesses.
You know where you want to be, and you even know how to get there. But, as soon as you allow your finances to frustrate you – you will begin to fail. So, write out all of your goals, but complete them one at a time.
Your struggles are a test of your determination. Conquer them and you will last as an entrepreneur.
Monday, June 4 by Gina Laverde in Bootstrapping | 2 Comments
Are you tired of trading your valuable services for “experience,” a pat on the back or the occasional slice of pizza? After you’ve been at it for a while, you feel like the money should just naturally start flowing your way, right? But what happens when it doesn’t? What happens when good clients can’t transition out of your novice-hood with you, or new clients want to haggle over the pennies that pay your rent?
Yeah, you need to demand your price and work with people who will pay it. And, depending on what type of business you run, you may have a partner who deals the contract nitty gritty. But, so often, it is us — right there at the front line (because we care the most about our business) diligently striving to stick out above the rest, and make the world realize that we’re worth millions.
I went through this stage not so long ago. Many of my clients weren’t paying me what I was worth, and we all knew it. And it wasn’t because I was new — it was literally because they could not afford me. So, to raise my price was to lose them, and I still needed the money they were providing. I figure I could’ve cried under my pillow about my bad decision to work with them in the first place, cut ties with them entirely or get really creative.
So, I got really creative.
The bottom line is that I need money. I’m sure you can relate. And, to call ourselves career entrepreneurs means we need to make enough of it to comfortably support ourselves. So, we can’t just cover our bills. We need to be happy.
I began to think of everything I need in terms of money. Everything from dental work and haircuts to movies, groceries, and home furnishings. Everything has a price. Then I added in time spent doing things I don’t like. That’s worth quite a bit. So, I have a client who owns a health food store. She’s got a start-up and can’t pay much. But, she gives me wholesale on any supplements or grocery items that I need. She saves me hundreds of dollars a month. Saving money is money. She delivers my order to my place, so that saves time.
But, this doesn’t sound all that creative does it? Bartering with clients is something we all do in the beginning, and it usually works — but leaves us cash hungry.
But, what if you didn’t just barter with clients. What if you bartered with the world for everything you need? Think outside your client/employee/ co-worker and friend box. Think about why you need the money. What are you buying? And what can you provide others (besides your business)? What do you love to do? Can you dog-sit for housecleaning, ad design for dentistry,cook for a haircut?
There’s no question that the economy is struggling right now, jobs are hard to come by, and entrepreneurs often have to decide to make less in order to make anything. But, there’s plenty of people in the world, and from what I hear there’s too many people in the world. For the creative entrepreneur, this means plenty of opportunity for profit.
I’ve been inspired to simplify my life, break everything down to the core, and aim to have it put more in my bank account. So, I’m experimenting with the power of barter. I’ve discovered ways to get money off of my rent, share wi-fi signals with neighbors, have all of my organic produce and groceries delivered, shelves built in my place, get my apartment cleaned weekly and more.
Maybe it sounds like I’m just lazy and spoiled, and I don’t want to clean my own apartment. But, it takes me twice as long to do the things I don’t like.
This kind of bartering allows me to do work for fewer clients — which brings down my overall stress level (think about those therapy bills that I won’t have to pay). Plus, when you don’t appear very needy to potential clients, they are more likely to pay your price.
I’ve secretly always wanted to sell my food. I’m an awesome cook, but I’ve been concerned about the risks of the food industry. But, I can barter my cooking. I also barter my tutoring services, furniture re-finishing, art and all of my writing services. I am looking forward to growing my barter idea into something that is a constant in my life.
I know your mind is full of ideas that you haven’t had time to do. Can the barter system work to save you money and allow you more time to do those things? Can you find a way to actually put more in the bank through bartering?
WE ALL WANT TO WORK FOR MONEY, BUT WE NEED TO REALIZE THAT EVERYTHING IS MONEY
Tuesday, March 27 by David Askaripour in Bootstrapping | 9 Comments
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Jump on the ebay wagon
ebay can be used as a powerful tool to help you raise some funds for your business. For years, I used to go to summer garage and yard sales with my mom and purchase tons of 10cent books from the boxes, sometimes the entire box, and come home to list them on ebay. You’d be surprised what some people were willing to pay for books, especially if you have entire volumes. On numerous occasions, I was able to package together volumes of books, purchased for $1-5, and turn around and sell them for $40+. Do that a couple times a week and you can start making some cash. And let’s not forget about selling all those gadgets sitting around your room collecting dust – ebay those babies!
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Become a broker
As a young entrepreneur how many times does someone come to you and ask “where they can have a website built?” or “if you know any good programmers?” Perhaps you don’t design and program yourself, but you know a bunch of people who do. Okay, so what about setting up the deal, taking a cut of the pie, and having one of your friends do all the programming/design? I know plenty of entrepreneurs that make a good living off of doing just that! You can broker anything, really. Mortgages, investments, websites, tutor lessons, etc… Get creative and leverage your networks.
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Tutor someone
You’re an entrepreneur so that probably means, at least to some degree, that you have brains and you know a thing or two about something. Maybe you excelled in English during college or you know a lot about history. Well, put those brain cells to good use and pick up a few tutoring lessons a week. Check out Craigslist or get in touch with your college and see what students are looking for tutors. You can pull a few hundred a week doing tutoring.
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Stay in the cubicle
Ok…ok… I’m saying it (yikes!). You should consider keeping your day job to raise capital for your business. In fact, that’s exactly what I did straight out of college — I got a 40,000 a year job, stayed there for a few months, raised about 10k, and left. Most of you hate your jobs, I know, but use them as a means to an ends. Why not? I mean, aren’t they using you to increase their bottom line? Well, use them to increase the size of your business bank account and then get the hell out of there, pronto!
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Pitch mommy and daddy
Let’s not forget about some of the most valuable assets in your network — moms n’ pops! Keep them in the loop of your business from the start. And one day, when the time is right, ask them for some assistance. Show them your plans and how you are going to change the world with your business. Most parents want to see their children succeed and would be willing to cut you a check to help you realize your dreams. My parents lent me close to 10k for my first venture and I will be forever grateful.
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Books can be your friend
One of the best investments an entrepreneur can make, besides actually spending the time “doing” something, is to read books. Don’t dismiss the value of books and learning from others. From books, you can begin to start thinking on new levels and become even more opportunistic when it comes to raising funds. Books like Richard Branson’s "Losing My Virginity"
will show you how a young kid boostrapped his way to becoming billionaire — and to think that it all started from a small magazine. Books can be very powerful if you take heed to their advice and “act” upon what you learn.
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Network like a mad man
Get out and start meeting as many people as you can. Go to niche events where you are going to be submersed in an environment with plenty of passionate, intelligent, and savvy entrepreneurs. Places like that are breeding grounds for picking up clients, people who are willing to invest in your company, and people who can put you in touch with other key players who can lead you to the money. A few years ago, while in college, I ran a small paper editing business. Someone overheard me talking about editing papers at an event and approached me, telling me how he and all of his buddies were looking for someone to edit their papers. That one small connection led to thousands of dollars towards my business that school year.
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Help the Earth and make some change in the process
How green are you? Our environment is in trouble and global warming is becoming a bigger and bigger threat by the day (okay, I had to throw that in.) Be a good green entrepreneur and recycle your cans and bottles at your local supermarket. If you drink a lot of soda and beers, then expect to make a few extra bucks per week. It’s a win-win, you’re recycling and making some cash at the same time — can’t lose.
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Save your change
Is your wallet or purse weighed down with loose pennies, quarters, dimes, and nickels? Probably is. Go get yourself a jar and start saving all the change you get when you break bills. Over time, you’ll be amazed how much you can save. I did this for a year once and made out with over $100. Some people save upwards of $30+ per month doing this. Do an experiment and try it out for a month and see what happens. For one month “only” use cash and save “all” of your change.
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Do freebies
Every now and then, do some free work for a new client. Believe it or not, this is a great way to build loyalty and help generate plenty of cash down the line. We humans are skeptical beings and are always suspicious of using someone new. Destroy that skepticism and offer your services for free for the first time. If they like what you do, then they’ll become major “connectors” and help spread the word about your services — forever!
Thursday, March 1 by David Askaripour in Bootstrapping | 5 Comments
What’s a bootstrapping entrepreneur? A bootstrapping entrepreneur is someone who is always looking to save money during the course of running a business. Most of us don’t have funding or fat wallets to dump tons of cash into our businesses, so we rely on creative ways to save money and keep the wheels of our ventures rolling.
Just after running my business and paying my rent, my second largest expense is food. Living in NYC is no joke when you’re talking about food expense, just ask anyone that lives in a major city.
But, rest assured, there are ways to save money when shopping no matter where you live. Here are 5 tips that I live by when shopping.
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Always have a list.
Never go to store not knowing exactly what you want or at least some idea of what you want to purchase. Otherwise, you are more than likely to spend money frivolously and for items that you really don’t need. Think of shopping like running a business: you should have some idea or a plan of the company that you want to start before you begin. That way, you can assess how much it’ll cost to start the business.
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Purchase in bulk.
Think about it, does it make more sense to purchase three bottles of Poland Spring water per day for $1.50 a piece or to purchase a 24 pack for $8.00 once a week? See what I mean, you should always try to purchase in large quantities so you can get the discounted priced. In the long-run, you’ll save much more cash.
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Forget about Mom and Pop shops, go for the big guys.
I hate to say it, but most “mom and pop” shops across the country charge insane prices for items. Stick to the large supermarket chains such as Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Walmart, Sam’s Club, ect… When you use these big brand stores, you area able to get the benefits of their locked in prices that they obtained through their distributors. The mom and pop shops are small operations – with much less volume – so they push high prices onto the customers to make up for the less volume.
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Save your receipts for everything.
You’d be surprised on the things that you can receive a tax refund from at the end of the year. Depending on your business/living situation, you can get a return on books, supply, material, and possibly even food at the end of the year. So save those receipts and make sure to include them into this year’s accounting.
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Learn how to cook.
Believe it or not, by cooking your own meals you can cut down on your shopping. If you are like me, you purchase a lot of prepared food and sometimes find yourself spending too much time in restaurants. I’m not an expert chef, but I definitely noticed a decrease in spending when I started to do more cooking than eating out.
It’s all about spending less money where and when you can. When you do that, you free up more expenses to invest back into your business.
Do you have any tips for other bootstrapping entrepreneurs? Share your thoughts on the Bootstrapping forum »
Thursday, February 15 by David Askaripour in Bootstrapping | 13 Comments
If you’ve been following the financial situation of the United States lately, then you are well aware of the high rise of outsourcing going on. Countries such as India, China, and Europe are playing a crucial role in providing well-qualified workers for companies right here in America – heck, around the world!
Want to hear something shocking? Here in the United States we are producing roughly 60,000 engineers a year and overseas – most notably, India – close to 800,000 engineers are being produced per year. So what’s happening?
Well, top companies that heavily rely on the services of engineers, who hire around 1000 – 2000 of them per year are now aggressively increasing their outsourcing campaigns to find the talent that they need.
As a young entrepreneur running a startup for the past 3.5 years, I, too, have went the outsourcing route multiple times and still do from time to time. Let’s face it, when you are looking for quality programmers and top designers here in the states, your only bet is to go after that small niche of designers who have built names for themselves. And in order to attract those diamonds in the rough, you better have the dollars to pay them.
They are the type of engineers, programmers, and designers who always say: “I can afford not to take on your job.” You know, the type who have built large followings around their work and have tons of people sending them request for proposals all night and day.
Sure, when you have the money I’d say hunt these individuals down and try to get them a part of your project, but the harsh reality is that most of us young entrepreneurs don’t have buckets of cash and we rely on bootstrapping to get things done.
So this brings us back to the premise of the article – Outsourcing. Outsourcing can be a lifesaver of a killer for entrepreneurs depending on your experiences with the people you are working with.
My first Internet project that I started 3 years ago was 100% outsourced and it was one of the worst experiences of my entire life. So many factors threw the project awry: language barriers, time difference, and an overall misunderstanding of what needed to be done. It was absolutely horrible and I told myself “never again.”
But now, years later, I have given another look at outsourcing as a viable way to get what you need done without spending a ton. As these niche and tight groups of designers/programmers/engineers continue to work together and simultaneously raise their prices, us young entrepreneurs are forced to seek talent elsewhere.
If you do your research, put in the time, and really spend the hours looking for the right person/company to outsource work to, then you’d be surprised to see how much talent you can find outside of your own country. Sure, it won’t be easy but it’s doable.
There are always people out there who are talented and hungry for work; people who charge reasonable prices and are more than capable of communicating with you on a level that both parties can understand.
The bootstrapping entrepreneur cannot ignore the benefits of outsourcing – even if you had a horrible experience such as myself. Outsourcing can be the difference between moving forward with your dreams or become stagnant and/or caught in a bind of paying tons of cash unnecessarily.
It most cases, the saying is true: “you get what you pay for.” So if you aren’t fully confident that the person you are outsourcing to is competent and right for the job, then forget about it. Move on. Keep on searching. But if you have the dollars, then pay up and go with the people who you (and the rest of the world) already know are talented. Only you can decide.
Have any outsourcing experiences to share? Any situations that worked out? Any advice for young entrepreneurs thinking about outsourcing?
Friday, November 10 by David Askaripour in Bootstrapping | Leave a Comment
Some of the best – no, the best – advice, ideas, and support that I have received for my business has come from my family, friends, and the occasional chat from professors when I was still in college.
The smart entrepreneur will consult with friends and family about their business whenever they have the chance. Sure, not all of our family members may hold the solutions to our problems. But from my experiences, family members – especially mom – tend to offer great practical advice that helps me make rational decisions in times of disarray.
It’s also great to reach out to friends and ask for their advice. You’ll have some friends who know a lot about coding / design, so reach out to them when your site is down before you spend hundreds hiring a server management company.
There will be times when you feel like absolute crap because things seem to be falling a part. Well before you throw in the towel, reach out to one of your close friends who can help you get through an issue and offer emotional support.
And what about the times when you’re clueless as to how to move forward with a technical business issue such as: filing a corporation, taxes, employee compensation, etc… A great way to get some immediate advice is to consult with one of your business professors after class.
Last year when I was still in college, I made an effort to spend at least 5 – 10 minutes – after class – with each one of my business professors. Most of the time we simply spoke about random ideas, but in some cases, we spoke about real business issues that I was facing and how to go about getting something done the right way. It was great.
Connecting to your network of friends, family, and business professors can be a powerful thing. In the long-run, you’ll be sure to save countless dollars and at the same time, you’ll be building a venture with the help of those you really care about.
Do you reach out to your friends and family?
Monday, October 30 by Justin Brooke in Bootstrapping | Leave a Comment
In order to achieve the highest results possible you’ll need to know some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) basics. I’ll explain it for you here “Justin” case.
To start you’ll have to do a little keyword/phrase research. What industry are you in? What would an average person type into the search box to find a site/service/product like yours? Once you have a few ideas for keywords/phrases you’ll need to find out how many times they are searched for each month. (A crucial step) Keyword Research Tool
If you are targeting a phrase like “Real Estate” chances are there is going to be way too much competition. However, if you are in the Real Estate industry this does not mean you are out of luck. Today’s searchers are smart they know how to narrow down their search to what they really want.
Let’s pretend you are a realtor living in Boise, Idaho. Would it please you to have a link to your website on the first page of Google search listings for the phrase “Boise Idaho Real Estate Listings?” I think this would please you very much.
That longer phrase is searched for much less, but it is much more focused. That person is looking for exactly what you are offering. (If you’re offering real estate services in Boise, Idaho) I have already researched this topic for a client and know that I can get a first page listing for him here.
In order to research how many searches a certain keyword/phrase is getting per month use this tool: Keyword Research Tool
So far I have spoken all in an example context, but you can do this for any industry/cause/service/product. Just type in the keyword or phrase you were thinking of using into the box provided by the keyword research tool, and then find one that is still suitable. For best results you want to find a phrase that gets between 50-200 searches per month.
Once you have done your research now it’s time to write your article. If you absolutely cannot write it yourself, no problem, just hire a freelance writer. You can get a 700-1000 word article for about $10…quite worth the price to be on the first page of a Google, or MSN search page.
You’ll need to include your chosen and researched keyword/phrase in your article’s title, and about 5-8 times within the body of the article. Other than that just make sure it’s a quality written piece that focuses on the topic of your keyword/phrase and you’ll have no problems.
Tip: Make sure to link back to your website inside the author bio box, and the linked words should be your chosen keyword/phrase for added insurance.
Friday, October 27 by Justin Brooke in Bootstrapping | 6 Comments
You might not know, unless you’re a web designer, but there is a war in the web development industry right now. This is a great thing for business owners because prices are all over the board. Due to all the popularity of template based web design companies, the custom design guys are either dropping their prices ridiculously low or ridiculously high to maintain their cash flow.
Some people scoff at template based websites because of a stigma from having what someone else already owns. Yet everyone is driving around in a car that certainly someone else owns of the same exact color, make, model, and even year. ( I could argue the benefits of template based design for days.) However, if you still cannot get over the idea of having a similar website to another company, there is still hope. There are thousands and thousands of different templates and new ones coming out every day.
If you are looking to find templates that are inexpensive, easy to manage, and still look GREAT, I recommend building a website with Homestead.com (affiliated). They even have a free trial where you can build a site and if you decide you like it, you sign up. The whole process took me about 30 minutes when I tried it my first time.
For as little as $5 per month you can have a beautiful website up and running today. Anyone could do this, there is no programming knowledge needed.
Now if you are slightly more web savvy head over to OSWD.org for free templates provided by professional designers. OSWD.org is updated often so the choices are almost limitless. For web novices, you will most likely have to hire someone over at Sitepoint.com’s marketplace to setup a hosting account, domain name, customize and upload your OSWD.org template for you. This is still going to be far cheaper then hiring a custom web development firm. (approx. $200)
Moving on up the learning curve you could try something like Joomla, which is an open source and free software that you can plug hundreds of templates into and manage all your content without ever needing to know HTML/CSS/PHP. This is my personal favorite to go with and I’m a professional web designer. I use Joomla for most of my sites, because I can make changes from any computer as the software is all online. I also can throw together an amazingly aesthetic site, full of brilliant functions in just 2-3 days.
With Joomla you can also download extensions and make your site do really complicated things. For example, adding on a forum, online store, or classifieds section. I mentioned Joomla last because it has an intimidating installation process to get it running. Although it is well documented all over the web and many forums to get questions answered. If you really are just to overwhelmed, head over to JoomlaExchange.co.uk and just about any site listed will handle Joomla installs and consultations for $45-$75 per site.
If you do persevere and learn the initial semi-complicated installation process, you’ll be whipping out attractive, fully functional websites faster then any custom web designer could ever hope for. Hey, maybe you can even start charging $45-$75 per install and consultation! 
All the options I have talked about today can be set up and run for less then $100, while still looking like you paid a couple grand. Congratulations, you just saved about $1900 on your next web presence.
Thursday, October 26 by Justin Brooke in Bootstrapping | 3 Comments
There is nothing more crucial to successfully bootstrapping your business than free marketing. This is my personal check list for every website I start. Not only will this drive traffic to your businesses web presence, but can also get you a free high ranking Google listing.
From what I hear, having a link to your website on the first page of a Google search is a good thing! To get that result for under $10 month well that’s just phenomenal. This is all done by simply piggy backing on sites that Google already loves.
YouTube.com
Make a 1-2 minute commercial for your service/product. People will bump into it here and there plus you can use it later for your website to have a rich media experience for your visitors.
Gcast.com
Make a free podcast about your service/product. Talk about features, benefits, how to use it, and have customers talk about how much they like it also.
Myspace.com
Create a business profile and interact with people. This is particularly great if you are in the retail industry. There are thousands of niche groups on Myspace find the one for your industry and introduce yourself.
Article Marketing:
This is where you can get your really high Google listings if done right. Write a 300-500 word article selling your service/product and make sure to use the right keywords. There are tons of sources out there that can teach you how to find and exploit the right keywords. That would be a whole other article itself. Basically, you just stick your keyword/phrase in the article title and throw it in the body of the article about 4-5 times also. Make sure to include a link to your site/s in the “about the author” box.
EzineArticles.com
GoArticles.com
Isnare.com (Paid bonus features)
ArticleAlley.com
These are the only four article sites you should worry about as Google has an affection for these. The others wouldn’t hurt but also wouldn’t help much either.
Classified Ads:
Use the same concepts as article marketing and you can secure a high listing with these sites as well. The downside is that classified ads generally go away after 30-45 days. Some have a feature where you can pay a small amount of money to have it re-posted over and over again. Well worth it if you can spare the cash.
Craigslist.com
Backpage.com (Paid bonus features)
UsFreeAds.com (Bonus features for $9/month)
Well there you have it, my personal Internet marketing checklist. If you are not using any of these techniques you could be missing out on 100-1000 free visitors a day to your businesses web presence.
Wednesday, October 25 by Justin Brooke in Bootstrapping | 1 Comment
Imagine as a bootstrapper, there was a place you could go and speak with a lawyer for patent advice or partnership contracts. What if this place also had experienced CEO’s you could go and chat with about writing a business plan, raising capital, and operations management. Imagine this place had a library of business books, pre-written business plans, computers w/Internet access, laser copy machines, and all the latest business related software for your convenience.
Now let’s top this dream off; let’s give this place a friendly accountant that you can converse regularly with about financial analysis, cash flow statements, and tax deductions. Oh yeah…I almost forgot, we need to make this place free to the public!
Sure would be nice to have a place like this nearby, for all of us out there bootstrapping our businesses. Ok enough of the song and dance, this place is real and I personally go there once a week! It’s called your local S.C.O.R.E chapter. If you know about it then you are one of the lucky ones. However, there are thousands of young entrepreneurs out there who have never even heard of the SCORE organization. The secret can be kept no longer!
SCORE stands for Senior Citizens Organization of Retired Executives. They are a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration. This is one of the greatest finds I have come across as a small business owner. It took me weeks to get over that all of their services were free! I could not believe the amount of resources made available. How it works is you go to the main website www.SCORE.org which itself has many, many valuable tools, articles, and resource links. Then you search for a chapter near you by city or zip code.
Once you have found your local SCORE chapter, you fill out some forms, (so they can get credit from the SBA) and then they call you up a few days later to set up your first appointment.
Now when I say free, I am only telling a half-truth… Whoa, whoa, whoa, get back here! In order to speak with the professionals one-on-one they first want you to attend one of their 3 hour seminars. The seminar is only $25 and covers business basics like, writing a business plan, what are the different business structures, where to get funding, and how to set up your finances.
They fit an awful lot in that 3 hour seminar so bring a notebook. This seminar is required by the coaches to make sure you at least have a working knowledge of the basics. After the seminar you schedule your first one-on-one session with a CEO, lawyer, accountant, or marketing executive. They assign you the person who can best coach you on your current goals. I know, you are probably still in shock, but its true these guys are out there and they really know their stuff. So get to their website, find a local chapter, fill out the form, and get ready for success!
Tuesday, October 24 by Justin Brooke in Bootstrapping | 3 Comments
A bootstrapper often has to rely on cold calling to get business, and cold callers have an arch nemesis called the “gatekeeper.” This is usually a secretary, receptionist, or anyone at the front desk answering calls. This person’s job is to stop sales calls from getting to the people that matter most when selling a product/service. It doesn’t matter if you invented cars that drive themselves and do your laundry at the same time, that gatekeeper is not going to let you through to the decision makers.
You need to have a strategy before you sit down for your calls. After all if you spend 2 hours calling and all you did was have 100 gatekeepers right your name and phone number on a yellow sticky note. Then your sale per call ratio is going to plummet!
One strategy that has been effective in the past is called, “The Handy-Man.” With this technique you never ask for the decision maker upfront. You’re going to turn on your stealth mode and slide right by the gatekeeper. To top it off s/he is going to help you do this! First the script and then we’ll come back to the philosophy and mechanics.
The Pitch:
Gatekeeper: Good morning, this is Lucy with abc business, how may I help you?
You: Hey Lucy, real quick what was the handy man’s name again?
Gatekeeper: You mean John?
You: JOHN!!! Yeah that’s the guy. I need to speak to him!
Gatekeeper: Ok who is this?
You: Oh it’s Bob at xyz store; I needed to speak with John real quick.
Gatekeeper: Ok, I’ll page him, hold on.
John (Handyman): Hello?
You: Hey boss what’s been goin’ on?
John: Huh? Who is this?
You: It’s Bob! But I think I have the wrong guy, what’s the GM/OM/Owner’s name again?
John: You mean Steve, upstairs?
You: That’s right STEVE! Man it has been one of them days. I don’t know how I got to you…Can you patch me through?
John: Sure, hold on.
Steve (decision maker): Hello, this is Steve.
You: Pitch away my friend!…Don’t say that last part!
The Mechanics:
Throughout the whole process you need to have a friendly tone of voice and the confidence of someone who calls this place daily. If you can manage that, then 90% of the time you will slide right past the trained gatekeeper. You end up speaking to John Doe, the mechanic/shop foreman/custodian who doesn’t like talking on the phone or having responsibility for a missed call to the boss!
When you call have in mind the type of guy you are going to ask for, handy man is just for demonstration purposes. For example, hotels have maintenance guys, offices have IT guys, and warehouses have a shop foreman. When in doubt just act confused to his title and say “you know the guy in charge of all the maintenance.” The gatekeeper will get slightly frustrated because now you have broken their rhythm, but will almost always help you find this mysterious guy you are asking about.
Troubleshooting:
This script is just a script, sometimes it may play out a little different. Some common problems will be the gatekeeper won’t say their name when answering the phone, or the “handy man” will not or cannot transfer the call. Always be thinking fast, pretend it’s a reconnaissance mission. If the handy man for some reason cannot transfer your call, at least you now have a name to one of the decision makers. Call back in a few hours try another guy/lady and say, “oops, I was supposed to be transferred to Steve, how’d I get here?” The point is to get past that gatekeeper, and while you’re on the inside gather all the intel you can.
Tips:
- If they have one of those automated systems press 0, 99% of the time it is the default to speak to a human.
- Listen for the gatekeeper’s name and use it
- Use familiarity in your voice
- Be in total control almost annoyed that they are slowing you down. “Act as if” you call there everyday.
- If they have one of those automated systems, then most likely there is a database of names and maybe even titles. Play around in the database, hop onto whoever’s desk you like and try them out.
Now that you are armed for warfare, grab some leads, pad of paper, a pen, and pick up the phone. You should always be tracking your numbers when cold calling to find out what works best. Keep notes of how many calls (dials), messages, pitches, and sales. Good luck, be persistant, and may the force be with you!
Monday, October 23 by Justin Brooke in Bootstrapping | 5 Comments
Hi all, I’d like to formally introduce myself. I am a new member and writer to Mind Petals, my name is Justin Brooke. It is my pleasure to write this bootstrapping column from now on, as I make my living via bootstrapping my own business. Although, the luck surely falls on you readers, because hopefully you now get to be geniuses. (A smart man learns from his mistakes, but a genius learns from the mistakes of others.) That being said here is a list of the top 5 mistakes bootstrappers make:
- Buying new
New business owners are passionate and should be in order to succeed. However, being too passionate about your business when it comes to purchasing supplies and hardware can be a major boon on your business. There are not too many situations where a new business owner needs to buy new things. Be resourceful and find them used, it is imperative that you do not overspend in this infancy stage. You need to be investing that money back into your business and creating value. Physical appearance comes much later; when you are struggling to find tax write-offs…Did I just say that out loud? };-)
- Move too fast
Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps! In the carpentry world they have a quote “measure twice, cut once.” Well an entrepreneur can adopt and adapt this same theory to say “analyze twice, act once.” Even Bruce Lee had to study for years to be the expert that he was, so take your time and develop your business slowly. By doing so you can rest assured that your foundation and each new layer will be concrete.
- Outsourcing too much
Outsourcing has become all the rage lately. It’s a fast, easy way to get more done! BUT YOU’RE SPENDING AGAIN! It can be wise to outsource some of your tasks but make sure you are not outsourcing the wrong things. If you are not willing to work on your business, how could you ever expect your employees to? There is a way to easily rationalize good outsourcing versus bad. If you outsource something for $200 and it brings in $500 well then obviously that’s good outsourcing. However, outsourcing labor that does not create positive revenue is what you have to minimize.
- Inflexibility
Adaptation is a quality every entrepreneur must have. For instance take a look at the web design industry right now. If all you know is designing web pages you are missing out on all kinds of revenue. The guys making it big right now, are the SEO experts. Today’s web designers must possess search engine optimization/marketing skills or risk the loss of customers. This is why you must always be alert to new possible revenue streams for your business and adapt yourself accordingly.
- Lack of organization
This is absolutely one of the biggest killers of small businesses. When you are just starting out you need to be tracking EVERYTHING. Your business will run much smoother the more you know about your business. When you are bootstrapping your own business, every marketing dollar counts. Without organization how can you tell which marketing strategy is working best? Another essential tracking system required is a time management schedule. You would be amazed at how much more you can do in a day, a week, a month if you create a schedule and keep to it. Keeping a schedule will help keep those baby steps we talked about moving smoothly, so that you can see results in a timely manner.
Be honest with yourself and ask: Am I making any of these mistakes? If so, take action TODAY! Correct them and three months from now you’ll look back and say… “Wow, that really was a much bigger deal than I thought. I’m glad I started taking baby steps, made a schedule, increased my flexibility, reduced my outsourcing dollars, and didn’t buy that brand new Dell XPS w/ 500gb hard drive set to raid 0 , 24″ monitor, and NVIDIA 7800 graphics card.
Monday, September 4 by David Askaripour in Bootstrapping | Leave a Comment
BootStrapMe is a blog focused on… guess what… bootstrapping you business. For most of us, getting venture capital or angel funding will never be the case. That’s where the bootstrapping mindset comes in handy.
In this day ‘n age, it’s never been easier to build a business with little to no capital – it can be done. Take a peep at BootStrapMe and see how other entrepreneurs are making things happen without truckloads of cash.
Wednesday, August 16 by Dan Marques in Bootstrapping | Leave a Comment
As some of my ventures have grown and required the need for advertising and marketing expenditures I quickly realized that advertising inventory is regularly negotiable. Even big companies like Google Adwords and Overture regularly offer coupons for new customers. A quick search will turn them up. Other small networks allow you to sign up and when you do not spend any money right away they start emailing you coupons and free advertising credits in order to start using their service. I have received over $300 in free pay per click advertising in the last month by signing up for a few different services just to check them out…and then not spending anything initially.
$300 in free advertising credits, at .10 per click is 3,000 visitors to your site…for free. Now that is bootstrapping.
Monday, August 14 by Dan Marques in Bootstrapping | 1 Comment
A great trick I uncovered this summer is ‘deferred compensation’. Say I have a great new idea for a business that is going to change the world. Whenever I tell someone about the idea they get really excited and want to know how to help. However, I do not have all the skill sets to pull the whole thing off by myself (as is pretty much always the case). I need a web developer, graphic designer, and a few other service providers along the way. As a bootstrapper, I understand that cash is the lifeblood of a start-up and that I need to conserve my equity as much as possible in order to maintain decision making.
So what do you do? You don’t want to pay the service provider(s) up front, and you do not want to start shelling out equity all over the place.
Deferred Compensation.
You tie their compensation directly to the success of the company. The web developer typically charges $100/hour and really loves the concept. You offer to pay the web developer $200/hour for his time, however, the condition is that you will only pay him once the firm achieves sales or becomes cash flow positive. He takes a risk, but receives a reward (in a higher rate) for his efforts. If you succeed, everyone wins. If you fail, the risk was spread a little farther out so no one individual is taking too big of a hit.
Friday, August 11 by Dan Marques in Bootstrapping | 1 Comment
One evening I had the privilege of having dinner with David Friend, a serial tech entrepreneur, and currently the CEO and founder of Carbonite (a new back up solution that keeps all your personal data safe). He had a very interesting perspective on business plans. He had never made a business plan for any of his ventures. However, every time he was starting to work on an idea he would open up powerpoint and start creating a presentation. It would include mock ups of the product as he was currently envisioning it and examples of future advertising. Creating advertising copy is an incredibly useful exercise because it forces you to focus on what is the main value your product is offering.
I have taken David’s advice to heart and have since added my own tips to this process.
Keep two powerpoint documents. One is an executive summary of sorts to show to people who are interested in your progress and want to learn more. This should include the problem you are solving, some mock ups, business model, mission, summary financials, etc. The other powerpoint document is for you and your close partners only. It is a place to hold all your ideas, thoughts, links to related articles and resources, next steps, etc.
Why is this bootstrapping? It is saving the entrepreneur time, money, paper, and formality. You are focusing only on the core necessities to make your business happen but still providing some documentation you can show to interested third parties.
Always remember:
“Bootstrappers don’t write lengthy business plans, chase deep-pocketed investors, or indulge in overly academic market research exercises. Instead, they focus all of their considerable energy, brainpower, determination and skills on creating a business that can actually succeed in the real world.”
-Greg Gianforte, CEO, RightNow Technologies
Friday, August 4 by Dan Marques in Bootstrapping | Leave a Comment
I was walking around my house yesterday and had a flash of inspiration. It may be nothing or it could be a new award winning economic model. The goal of economics is to take complicated situations in our society and break them down into simple frameworks. For instance, you know intuitively (and they teach in economics) that price tends to relate to quality, the $50,000 car is better quality than the $18,000 car (or at least you hope so). Economists graph that real world commonality as such:
If those holds true in all scenarios. Than an entrepreneur who is attempting to bootstrap would have all low quality products and services and therefor would not be able to start anything valuable. However, we know that is not the case. The bootstrapping entrepreneur is able to do more with less.
This is what I feel is a more accurate economic depiction (completely thought of and developed by me, so this could be completely inaccurate) of the bootstrappers world. They are able to pay less to still get high quality products and services to start their business. The reason they can do so is they bring value and have a “bootstrapper IQ”. For instance, instead of paying $50,000 for the nice high quality car, the bootstrapper negotiates with the dealership and gets the car for significantly less (or free) because they provide a substitute value to the dealership (perhaps free advertising, services in kind, deferred compensation, or some other trick of the bootstrapper). Bootstrappers know how to leverage what they have in order to minimize the cash outlays they need to make to get their business off the ground, the real bootstrapper probably would realize they didn’t need the $50k car to begin with…
Wednesday, August 2 by Dan Marques in Bootstrapping | 1 Comment
I am very excited to be one of the contributors to the bootstrapping column of Mindpetals. Bootstrapping is not a buzzword, individual technique, or get rich quick scheme. It is a philosophy of entrepreneurship. Bootstrapping is the truest form of entrepreneurship, doing more with less is the central tenet.
Why is this important?
When someone wants to start a venture, it generally requires capital. Oftentimes you need to seek that capital from other individuals or institutions that have their own mission, vision, and process that may not align with yours. By using the least amount of capital possible you can conserve the maximum amount of equity (read: control) and you are a more nimble and stronger company. If you take on debt you maintain ownership but then you have to handle the monthly debt service payments and what will happen if you miss a month? How far can bootstrapping take you? There are countless examples of successful entrepreneurs who have launched ventures with no money down up to as little as $5,000. Richard Branson started his first company with “pocket money” from his mother. Need another example? Subway was started by Fred Deluca for $1,000. Can you still do that today? How about you ask the guys over at Facebook.
This bootstrapping column will feature tips, techniques, resources, motivation, and examples of bootstrapping. It will serve as a transparent source of honest information from young entrepreneurs like yourself who are in the trenches and making things happen with less than you can imagine.
Success on your terms…
