Bootstrapping your business means relying on your savings and income to launch operate and grow your startup, with no help from external investors. It can be financially challenging, but also incredibly empowering, and for many bootstrappers, it’s a startup funding option of choice.
Sharpening your business skills
Euan Davies launched Sliderfy, which sells branded sliders to businesses and sports clubs, with his business partner in 2019. The startup costs were just £300, which included company incorporation, website development and hosting, marketing, and product testing.
The pair bootstrapped by choice, as they had the marketing skills they needed to launch the business and avoided having to pay for website development and digital marketing support, but Davies believes that bootstrapping can make you a better business leader.
“It forces you to make better, calculated decisions, while shoestring budgets also encourage more sensible advertisement spending and marketing,” he says.
Some of the biggest bootstrapping challenges are around cash flow and growing the team. “Hiring hire full-time, quality staff is hard when you don’t have the funds to offer competitive salaries,” he says. “Bootstrapping a business full-time, without another income to support you is also difficult when you face the dilemma of whether or not you get paid each month.”
