Successfully bootstrapping an online business is a phrase which is not easy to come by these days. These days, the concept of bootstrapping a business is not something that an owner looks forward to, as much as he considers about sources of funds. And yet, there are a bunch of teeming people out there who have not only boot strapped their business but also done it at a profit.
Nevertheless, the importance of business, planning and team management is more relevant in the present context. These concepts have important lessons to teach, which can take a business through the tidiest of winds and still aid them pass unscathed.
5 Lessons we learnt after successfully bootstrapping our online business TFTH.
1. Pursue speed and not perfection: Every one knows and understands that time is an important resource. However, when going through a bootstrapping activity, time gains even more prominence than ever before. Bootstrapping means that you are paving an outflow for money every second while you are at it. Unless you can really afford to let that stream flow, your need to improve the revenues will take a front seat. Often, entrepreneurs tend to wait out and let time pass before they launch their impending product or business idea. Let me tell you that there is no correct time to launch your effort, unless there is some crucial pointer restricting you from doing so. Strive for perfection all you want but that is going to cause a lot of delay in revenue. For an entrepreneur, there is only one piece of advice in this matter. Start forward with your product or idea as soon as you can.
2. Complete the flow and fast: This learning was derived from the concept of Minimum viable product. As per this concept, a product should have the minimum viable features to satisfy the needs of its initial set of customers. We tried to understand this concept in the context of an online business, which has two stages, namely, Flow and optimisation. The flow stage is usually meant to be a point at which the customer is able to satisfy his current needs from a product. The aim of any entrepreneur should be to move over this stage as quick as he can because if this stage fails, the whole business fails. In the optimisation stage, the target of any businessman should be to utilise the power of optimisation and efficiencies. Most often, mixing up these two stages can bring a business to a standstill and cost the businessman crucial time. Therefore, the best idea is to get ready with a product which a customer may be willing to try and wait for the additions to come later.
3. Realistic Estimate of Expenses: Finances are the major helms of any business, which can keep a businessman at his haunches all day! If there is one thing that goes out of plan, the whole idea of a budget gets bounced over. As humans, we have a tendency to underestimate the spend, whether it is because of prudence or wrong budgeting tactics. Whenever everything goes according to a plan, usually there is no panic among anyone. However, it is only when something goes out of plan that the whole team gets panic stricken. When it comes to a business, it is usual to estimate the expenses lower than the actual spending. The crucial point of prudence here is to estimate lower revenues but higher costs.
4. Make friends with Google: Making friends with the big gangster is an option that you have to choose, if you are a budding entrepreneur who is looking to build his online business. And the best thing is that the sooner you get down to doing this, the better for you. If there is anything that you know about SEO, you will be able to appreciate why it is the only ball you have really got in your court more often. Thus, investing your time and efforts in SEO is a venture that you have to do for sure. Whether you talk about one month or ten, a waste is a waste when it comes to SEO implementation.
5. Build a young team: Building an online business in the present day is not exactly a complex task. Besides, there is ample material out there which can be used to learn the skills, needed to run an online business. Building a team with fresh and young talent means starting out on a fresh slate, almost an empty cup of tea, which is ready to fill itself with knowledge and experience, which is in stark contrast to an already filled cup. Starting with a young team means keeping a lot of patience but also saving on a lot of costs.
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Ankit Garg is a serial entrepreneur having built and sold couple of online businesses. Currently he is building the help platform for college students