As in unbirthday ala Lewis Carroll.

For those readers who are not residents of the U.S., today marks a national holiday recognizing those who labor.

Like many Americans, however, I will spend at least part of the day working. So why in the world would I wish everyone a happy Unlabor Day?

Well, it's because the work I'll be doing is for my own bootstrap venture, something that sometimes requires extra hours on weekends and even holidays.

Here's a little list of things I sometimes tell myself to get through the tough times working those extra hours while others relax:


1. This was your idea, remember? Unlike the times when the phone rings late at night or when I'm told to finish a project that will take extra time or some weekend work for my full-time employer, my bootstrapped venture is mine. I'm the boss. I came up with the idea of starting it in the first place to create a better future, a better destiny, for me and my family. Nobody's asking me to work this weekend but me. I know the costs and the potential rewards. They are all mine, and that makes all the difference.

2. Don't let the family get you down. I'm talking about the extended family here. Folks who you'll see at that weekend barbecue you attend out of obligation where everybody tells you you're working too hard. Than they stand around with beers in their hands commiserating with each other because they're getting nowhere in their jobs.

3. Remember the cash. Remember the cash. Remember the cash. As Cristian Dorobantescu reminds us in his post on the "Seven deadly sins for a bootstrapped company", it's important to watch expenditures in the early days of your venture making sure you've got enough to reinvest and to pay needed bills and taxes. But hopefully your business is bringing in money that just would not be there if you weren't spending the extra hours. Even if you decided to spend that money on something personal, which you probably shouldn't, but which I have to admit I have in some cases in the past, it should prove an added incentive to keep going.

4. Enjoy your passion. Hopefully, in addition to the incentive of extra cash, you've chosen a business you can truly feel passionate about. Entrepreneurs, myself included, get involved in projects as much because they hope to enjoy their work and the effort involved in building a company as because they want to make a million. While stealing those extra hours needed to bootstrap your endeavor to success, don't forget to enjoy the ride.

5. No pain no gain. If you had unlimited resources perhaps you could quit your day job, work at your venture full-time and be able to enjoy weekends, evenings and vacations like any nine to five employee. But you're a bootstrapper and that means using your creative energies and inventiveness to build your business. Some have suggested an easier path could result in costly mistakes that waste money, resources and time. There's no easy way to build a muscular enterprise capable of surviving unforeseen changes in market, competition and other factors. Good old hard work and sacrifice are the keys.