College-Startup » Bootstrapping

The Two Most Important Skills For Bootstrapping An Online Business

Ryan — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 14:00:59 +0000

If you are serial entrepreneur, jack of all trades, master of none, like me, then you probably have dozens of brilliant business ideas for the Internet. However, chances are that you are stuck for a number of possible reasons. Typically, these reasons boil down to two general problems. First, you might lack the technical skills to execute your ideas (and not have the funds to outsource). Second, you might have the technical skills but lack the psychological insight to build something people *really* want and then market it to them. It no longer suffices to just build something great – you need to build something great that targets a sizeable demographic and then market the hell out of it – the more it fits a real need for a sizeable group, the easier it is to market.

Time and again I see people confronting these two basic issues. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of work and commitment to acquire these skills. If you’re just starting school or thinking seriously about running an online business, then let me offer the following advice: double major in computer science and marketing psychology. Let me emphasize this: choose to be educated in such a way that you will become an expert both with programming and development skills and also in the fine art of human psychology.

The more time you spend trying to understand the fundamentals of human psychology, the more successful you will be. You will be more likely to execute wide-appeal business ideas, and to avoid the trap of building a product or service from self-projection. You will learn to think like your target group, which shouldn’t be equivocated with your own preferences. To build these skills, consider getting either a marketing degree, a psychology degree or a marketing psychology degree if your school offers it.

Personally, I think that have a robust understanding of human psychology is even more important than have technical skills, but if you are going to really bootstrap your way to success, you will need to have the skills to do some development. Spend as much time as you can learning the basics of building web applications. Learn PHP, ASP, Python, Ruby on Rails, etc. Learn the basics of CSS. Learn how to do link building and SEO with sophistication and nuance.

Many of the technical skills that you will need for running an online business are best learned through practical application. So don’t just rely on your college education which often doesn’t provide enough opportunity for real-world projects. Instead, expect to spend some free time developing your own projects. Think of it as practice for when you get out of school. And if you are like me, project development almost feels like playing a video game, so if you can learn to enjoy development, you can get some pleasure out of the process too.

At the end of the day, if you are going to have the bug to build online businesses the rest of your life, like I’m sure I will, consider getting a college education that trains you to 1) understand human psychology at its core and 2) to develop web apps. Take a nice blend of pure psychology courses with marketing courses and through in some computer science courses that focus on web development.

3 Useful resources for bootstrappers

Froggy — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 12:57:26 +0000

Bootstrapping Blog – Dealing primarily on bootstrapping, this blog contains very useful advice and information on just how to go about raising a business with zero or minimal cash outlay. Active since October 2007, it has a total of 71 articles in its archive. The layout of the blog is quite pleasing and easy to navigate, though be aware that there are a few advertisements around the site. The site lacks a search engine to filter the articles, but the archive features a drop-down list of articles written on a certain month. Articles are well commented as well, indicating an active community that shares information on the given subject. Find more about the Bootstrapping Blog in http://www.bootstrappingblog.com/

BootStrapMe – BootStrapMe is a blog created by Creative Weblogging Inc. to aid those who wish to start their own bootstrap business. While some articles are written under the pseudonym Creative Weblogging, the bulk of it is written by Shawn A. Hessinger from Northeastern Pennsylvania. While the articles are meaty and informative, what will immediately strike you as soon as you enter this bootstrapping blog is the layout which is really calling for a redesign. Advertisements are everywhere. Some articles are divided into several pieces and you have to click on a link just to get to the next part – something which I find unnecessary since they aren’t that long to begin with. However, it is a useful blog with interesting articles. Check out BootStrapMe in http://www.bootstrapme.com/

Bootstrap Babes – Multipreneurs Donna Maria Coles Johnson and Jamila White are the Bootstrap Babes – and they have some useful information to share to anyone who wants to start a business without the use of outside financial resources. The blog has been up and running since February 2008. Along with the usual advice on exactly how to go about starting a bootstrap business, they include inspirational experiences to give the readers the emotional boost they need. The site itself is pretty well organized. However, submission of articles isn’t regular. Time between submissions can range from a few days to a whole month. Catch the Bootstrap Babes in http://www.bootstrapbabes.com

Entrepreneurial Inspiration

Ryan — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:05:15 +0000

The most popular College Startup article of all time is called 15 Successful Entrepreneurs Who Didn’t Need College. I think that article really served as inspiration to the entrepreneurial spirit in all of us. If nothing else, it made clear that college is not the critical key to success (though it can help, no doubt). Rather, passion, smarts, perseverence and drive are really the keys to business success.

Over at BusinessPundit, there’s an article written in the same spirit that covers 25 entrepreneurs who started with virtually nothing and created juggernaut businesses. If you’re struggling and looking for some motivation, that’s a great article to check out.

One Greek Store, an example of a successful bootstrapped business

Froggy — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:14:48 +0000

Starting entrepreneurs usually encounter the problem of funding. There are several ways to go about it, and college students Tony Tran, Nick Leung and Dennis Ngin took a path not commonly traveled: using credit cards. Another interesting path taken by Dennis and his partners when starting the One Greek Store, a custom apparel for the minority fraternity and sorority market, is that they didn’t outsource the their work – a path usually taken by bootstrappers to avoid capital costs from day one. Instead, they bought their own sewing machine. Several factors attributed to this decision, such as:

1. Money saved from a recent internship that made it possible to pay the debt down easily if something went wrong

2. The resale value of the machine which added security since it could be liquidated if necessary to pay debts

3. The partners’ confidence that they had enough demand from a local market on the campus of the University of Florida in Gainesville where they were students to carry the business for the time being.

When they were looking for the right market, they chose not to “go with the flow” but instead, focused on a niche. Once they have the market and tools, the three partners in One Greek Store put in not only borrowed money but also plenty of time and sweat equity to make their venture a success. It was light work during the summer months – until classes kicked in. Still, they survived and today, the One Greek Store is flourishing. Despite the initial risks of his endeavor, Dennis bootstrapped all the way in other parts of his business spending just $110 to host his site and $30 for a website design template. And with the high profit margin, Dennis just can’t help but recommend the very lucrative business opportunity.

Just a reminder: while some people have thrived using credit card funding, there are also dangers to watch out for, and it’s best to keep certain things in check:

1) Keep business and personal cards separate – Don’t use your personal cards to pay for business expenses or you will put your personal credit at risk

2) Resist the allure – Don’t get too many credit cards. You’ll know it’s excessive when managing them begins to get difficult.

3) Know your credit history – Making sure your credit report is correct and up-to-date could make the difference not only in whether you get the card or not but at what rate.

Bootstrap Experiment: From $400 to $100k In One Year?

Ryan — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:03:01 +0000

I know that I could have used this at the very beginning. A little seed money and a little advice.

Small Business Guru’s experiment sounds like a great idea. And I’m willing to bet that it could be successful with the right person involved. Not a whole lot of money, sure, but free consulting and help is priceless. I know that I personally don’t have the time to offer that.

Make sure to check out the small business guru’s Bootstrap Experiment