The 11 Points Action Plan for Bootstrapping your Startup

While getting funding is on top of the agenda for many startup entrepreneurs, it does not mean that bootstrapping your company should be ignored. Christopher Fogg, the Chairman of Connect London, opened his first formal incubator in 1998 and has now started a total of 4 business incubators. He is a self-proclaimed bootstrapping expert, and he shared some of his tips at an event at HSBC in London to promote “The Aspire Fund” to support Women-led businesses with match funded equity investment.

Connect is perhaps unique in offering support to entrepreneurs through Bootstrapping Consultancy and Mentoring. Bootstrapping according to their method is based on the following principles:

1. The art of starting a business with little or no external funding.
2. The best funding comes from customers, not investors.
3. Bootstrapping is about incremental growth based on actual sales.

By taking a bootstrapping approach, it is still possible to create a successful business, according to Connect. An example is Bill Gates who took this approach in Microsoft by securing his major client, IBM, before he had fully developed the product he was going to sell to IBM.

The 11 Points Action Plan for Bootstrapping your Startup

Connects’ bootstrapping services help entrepreneurs by aligning their approach to the bootstrapping policy of finding sales and a route to market, without increasing fixed overheads. It follows an Action Plan to Prepare the Startups, as follows:
1. Decide what you’re selling and to whom. Outline the key features and benefits of your
product or service on a single sheet of paper.
2. Identify potential customers and how to contact them.
3. Contact potential customers and start asking for orders. Of course, don’t mislead customers
about a service or a product that is not yet available, but don’t let that stop you from asking
for their business.
4. If your potential customers are not willing to buy the most likely initial outcome – find out
why. Take that information and update your product or service description. Return to steps
2 and 3, until you believe you have the right idea. 5. Make a list of 20/30 ways you can promote your product at little or no cost.
6. Work out what product or service features have the best value proposition that you can
deliver initially with your limited resources. Try to identify the minimal set of features or
capabilities that will allow you to get your first customers. Make those features or capabilities
your first product or service. You can always add more once the revenue stream has started.
7. When you have prospects willing to spend money, start making and delivering your product
or service. Be careful not to spend more time than absolutely necessary. Your primary time
and effort should still be devoted to selling. Try to get these initial customers to pay all or
part in advance.
8. Grow your business incrementally. Add phones, workspace and employees only when
necessary and only when you already have the money. Concentrate on sales.
9. When sales take off, pull out the sledgehammer. Increase sales activity and interaction.
10. Always remember to celebrate your successes.
11. Review progress and prepare a list of the ten most attractive business propositions and chose
l/3 of these.

In addition to this action plan, Connect had devised a Bootstrapper Aptitude Test to determine if a startup entrepreneur is a natural Bootstrapper.