Browsing Category
Bootstrap Your Business
103 posts
6 Successful Dealmakers Provide Top Tips on Raising Capital
Bootstrapping will only take your startup so far. Many businesses underestimate how much money they really need to keep going and growing, and they run out of runway. When raising capital, these investor-entrepreneurs and members of The Oracles share their best secrets, tips and strategies. 1. Soul-search For me, it’s all about enthusiasm. You need to show...
Top 10 Ways to Fund Your Startup
Deciding to start a new business is exciting, but it can be tough to maintain that eagerness throughout the journey, especially when it comes to finding funding for your startup. Funding for any business can be challenging, but for startups, it’s notably more difficult. This is because many traditional business loans require at least one...
How to Bootstrap Your Side Hustle into a 6-Figure Business
How do you successfully bootstrap a side hustle into a six-figure business? Building a wildly profitable business is simpler than you might think. With the right business model and strategy, you can build a successful side hustle that doesn’t require any external funding and turn it into your full-time job. Here’s how I did it...
14 Funding Tips From Entrepreneurs Who’ve Been There
As an entrepreneur, what is your best tip to secure funding for a startup? To help you with securing funding for your startup, we asked small business owners and entrepreneurs this question for their best strategies. From using commercial finance brokers to finding value-aligned investors, here's advice that may help you fund your startup. Here...
3 Resources Bootstrappers Need to Overcome Common Challenges
There are many ways to grow a successful business, and bootstrapping, while not necessarily en vogue, is what most entrepreneurs are faced with—funding a business straight from your own wallet or customer revenue, not from investors. There are unique challenges to bootstrapping, but you can do it and still become a high-growth company. We’ve done...
Secrets of Bootstrapping From an Entrepreneur Who Leveraged his 401(k)
If you’ve never bootstrapped a business, you’re going to need to be prepared for the unexpected. I learned this myself when I transitioned out of the U.S. Army and became a federal decision officer for the Department of Veteran Affairs. Delays in the system impacted my income and my ability to provide for my family,...
The 7 Business Lessons We’ve Learned in 7 Years
Fewer than 50 percent of businesses make it to their fifth year. That means that half of all companies have a short lifespan, despite their efforts to build something successful long-term. The interior design space is particularly competitive: predictions state that by 2026, the market will be worth $270,410 million, and in turn, a whole...
7 Creative Financing Options for New Businesses and Startups
It takes money to make money. But financing isn't always easy — especially if you're the proud founder of a brand new business. Traditional banks and financial institutions set a high bar for borrowers. They want to see years in business, consistent revenue and excellent credit scores, and those are things that most new businesses...
This Entrepreneur Shares How She Bootstrapped Her Startup (and How You Can, Too)
There are several different ways a startup founder might fund his or her business, including series funding, crowdfunding, loans, venture capital and angel investments. Bootstrapping is another option. As an entrepreneur, investment advisor and consultant to startup founders, I understand that each startup is different. There is no one “best” way to fund your business....
Bootstrapped and Global from Day One: The Story of Linktree
Linktree was created somewhat by accident in 2016, as a side project by myself, my brother, Anthony Zaccaria, and our friend, Nick Humphreys, to solve a problem we thought to be uniquely our own. At that point, we’d worked in the digital space for many years and were running Instagram accounts for the bands and...
4 Alternative Funding Options for Your New Business
It's hard to secure funding from venture capitalists. There's a good reason for that: it should be hard. Raising venture capital for the wrong kind of business is a recipe for startup failure. The media, such as HBO's "Silicon Valley," and the general glorification of VC-backed startups have led many entrepreneurs to believe that venture capital is...
5 Reasons Why Bootstrapping Your Business Helps Improve Customer Service
Brands have always waged war over customers’ attention, trust and loyalty. They’ve competed on just about everything — from features and specifications to special discounts and service plans. But in today’s marketplace, product and pricing often take the backseat in favor of customer experience and customer service. That’s to be expected in a buyer-centric economy....
7 Alternatives to VC Funding That Women Entrepreneurs Need to Know About
News, television and other media have pushed venture capital from specialized financing vehicle to the mainstream. It would be easy to assume, then, that venture capital is a good fit for every startup, but that’s not the case at all. In particular, venture capital is often not a good fit for startups. Taking venture capital...
5 Leading Entrepreneurs Share Their Best Advice for Bootstrapping a Business
About 42 percent of startups fail because there’s no market need for their product, and almost 30 percent don’t make it because they run out of money. So, what does it really take to succeed in business, especially when you’re bootstrapping? We asked these top entrepreneurs and advisors in The Oracles, including Hint Water’s Kara Goldin, investor Tai...
Show Me the Funding! Creativity Can Help Get the Money and Resources You Need
The following is excerpted from “Target Funding: A Proven System to Get the Money and Resources You Need to Start or Grow Your Business," pg. 26 to 28 (McGraw-Hill, July 12, 2019). If the vast majority of early-stage entrepreneurs, small businesses, and independent inventors can’t get conventional business loans or venture capital, where do they find...
How This Law Firm Bootstrapped its Way to Success
John Pascoe is the founder of the Pascoe Law Firm, a dual-practice law firm in the Houston area that specializes in car, truck, and motorcycle accidents. Instead of keeping up with the “Joneses” of other large local law firms, Pascoe focuses on providing excellent customer service rather than outspending competitors. Starting out Why did you...
The Art of Bootstrapping: How to Start a Business with Little to No Money
Bootstrapping is a term that has long been applied to entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial process. According to Dictionary.com, when used as a verb, bootstrapping means to “help oneself without the aid of others.” In the business world, it’s often a reference to the financial end of starting up a business with very little capital, little...
6 Funding Ideas for a First-Time Startup Founder
Finding cash for your new business venture may seem like a daunting task. With some high-profile startups boasting angel investment amounts in the millions, is it even likely that an unknown, fledgling business like yours can find funding to get off the ground? The quick answer is yes, although it may take some ingenuity and...
How This Mom’s Ever-Growing Laundry Pile Inspired a Business
Any parent of young children can relate to the constant struggle of staying on top of laundry. Angelyn Myers, founder of My "Buddy" Towel, is no different. The mom of six was especially frustrated when one of her children insisted on using three towels to keep warm after bath time, adding significantly to the laundry...
Why Transparency Should Be a Key Pillar of Your Business Strategy
As entrepreneurs, we all love a good challenge. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t bother trying to start a business in the first place. But starting a business is one thing, and bootstrapping one is another; especially when competing against corporations with multi-million dollar budgets. While it may be a daunting challenge, it’s not an impossible one. In fact,...