Ian
Your vision and your business remain intact
One of the hardest parts of running a business is letting financial backers or investors have their say over yours.
When you choose to bootstrap your business, you will always remain the owner of your idea and your business. So, bootstrapping gives you complete ownership of your business.
Freedom to make your own decisions
You probably turned entrepreneur because you know best. Bootstrapping makes you the boss of your business. So, you make your own decisions without having financial backers and investors breathe on your neck. If you bootstrap your business, you lower the chance of facing such limitations. You make all the decisions.
Prevents overgrowth
For obvious reasons, bootstrapping restricts you from overgrowing. In the case of having investors, you are pressed to overgrow whether you like it or not. Your investors want maximum ROI from their investments. Venturing on your own creates an atmosphere that makes overgrowth almost impossible. There is a self-control mechanism for managing growth. At the same time, you also have to resist remaining stagnant. There needs to be a fine balance between leveraging yourselves and allowing your current profits to fund future growth.
It is never too late to branch out, experiment and tweak
You come to know later in the business cycle that there are other opportunities. Take them! Make them count. If you bootstrap, you can mould your business model to suit current trends, your motivations and capabilities.
Bootstrapping keeps you grounded
It is your own money. Your business is what feeds you! So, you will automatically make sure that efficiency is maintained at the highest possible levels. Needless for external entities, you will be aware of the costs involved in the day-to-day running of the business and start operating your company on a ‘lean’ business model. That’s never the case with companies that have raised seed money from elsewhere.
Multi skilled personnel
Bootstrapped businesses are also cash strapped! So, they end up multitasking. It is not uncommon to see the same people handle everything from technical to managerial roles. Boundaries become fluid and people have an enviable skill set.
Responsibility in the right place
Unlike with venture capital funded companies which can go astray, bootstrapped companies make sure the founders’ equity and control over the company is not diluted. Founders are responsible for all their decisions are about making the company grow. This ensures that the company stays on course.
