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The
Bootstrappers Bible
- Seth Godin
This is an e-book that costs
all of $3 on Amazon and is a nice refresher for "bootstrappers"
- things that are easy to forget and suggestions on ways to bootstrap
your way to success. it's a fast, fun read.. instead of posting the
e-book here, I'll just recap the 9 principles, along with some notes
relating to my own business.
- Find people who care about
cash less than you do
Great idea Seth, but no one is going to fund my franchise business
- nor do I want them to... I'm playing credit card roulette, but I'm
not sure there is any other way to do it.
- Survival is Sucess
Money now is better than money later - this is something I have to
deal with on a daily basis - while my business is cash and carry,
I still have to remember to make investments wisely and manage my
cash flow.
- Success Leads to More
Success
The more I do, the more I learn and the more my business takes off.
Simple.
- Redo the Mission Statement
and Business Plan Every 3 Months
Finding the time for this is hard, but I'm 6 months in and overdue
to examine my business plan... I'm doing that this week (2/17/2004)
- Associate with Winners
I may have to fire my first customer, which sucks, but she's a pain
in the ass. Meanwhile, another customer is great to work with but
doesn't deliver when he needs to... kids don't know it is photo day,
envelopes aren't handed out.. I can work with him on this - and turn
this dog into a winner! This rule also applies to Employees, Vendors
& Peers and I think it is a great rule.
- Beware of Shared Ownership
This biz is fully funded by me and my family.. risky? Yes. 100% ownership?
Absolutely.
- Advertise
Hmmm.. .this is a big question as my business is not typical.. my
customers (leagues) control access to my customers customers (parents)...
the big question recently is - is it worth advertising to my customers
customers to build my brand? Will it even matter? I'm doing limited
advertising on Google, but may experiment with local ads in weeklies.
- Get Mentored
- Observe those Little Birds
that Clean the Teeth of Very Big Hippos
I'm trying to partner with larger, established companies who don't
seem to understand this concept... but I'll continue to work on them!
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