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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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Success Leads to More Success
    The more I do, the more I learn and the more my business takes off. Simple.
  4. 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)
  5. 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.
  6. Beware of Shared Ownership
    This biz is fully funded by me and my family.. risky? Yes. 100% ownership? Absolutely.
  7. 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.
  8. Get Mentored
  9. 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!