Have you ever put on a pair of cowboy boots or other boots with the little tabs to help pull them on?  Using those is bootstrapping.  From Wikipedia:

Tall boots may have a tab, loop or handle at the top known as a bootstrap, allowing one to use fingers or a boot hook tool to provide greater force in pulling the boots on. The saying “to pull oneself up by one’s bootstraps” was already in use during the 19th century as an example of an impossible task.

Today “Bootstrapping” is the art of building and operating a business without outside funding.  Just you, standing on your own two feet, using your own personal money to fund your business.

An introduction to the 4 phases of Business Bootstrapping:

PHASE 1 – START

The initial discovery phase of your idea.  Time is your biggest resource and keeping expenses low is your greatest challenge.

Project List:
Form the founding team
Conduct customer interviews
Find your “secret sauce” – how/why your product/service is different
Create prototype or minimal service to communicate your concept
Find mentors and advisors
Write your initial business plan

Critical Questions to Answer:
            What meaningful problem are you solving?
Will anyone be interested in your solution to the problem?

PHASE 2 – VALIDATE

Validate that enough people are interested in your product or service to make a market.

    Project List:
Refine your core features
Grow your initial user/customer base
Implement analytics to track key metrics
Establish outsourcing or hiring
Acquire first paying customers
Adjust your product to the market

  Critical Questions to Answer:
Will enough people exchange money or attention for what I have to offer?
What are the core features and benefits of my product or service?

PHASE 3 – OPTIMIZE

Smooth out the rough edges of your business model and fine-tune the processes.  Experiment now while the costs are still low.

Project List:
Perfect the customer experience
Improve the sales process
Refine your value proposition
Adjust the sales funnel
Refine initial business plan

Critical Questions to Answer:
What does a repeatable sales process look like?
What are the key issues preventing growth?

PHASE 4 – SCALE

Drive growth aggressively while maintaining excellent quality and service.

Project List:
Aggressively increase sales
Perfect back end processes
Implement processes and procedures
Establish departments

Critical Questions to Answer:
What do you expect from your team?
What are the critical high level processes?
What do your key metrics tell you?

Regardless of the phase you are in with your business, call for an appointment and let’s see where we can best help you toward great success.