How bootstrap entrepreneurs adapt to change

Filed in archive Entrepreneurship on November 16, 2006

Sometimes things simply don't go as planned.

One of the benefits of bootstrap entrepreneurship is the ability to adapt quickly to that change when it comes free of the demands of creditors or financiers.

Bootstrap entrepreneur guru Greg Gianforte puts it this way:

When you take external funding, you become a slave to your business plan and you have to constantly answer to third parties: banks, private investors, grant agencies, etc. This destroys your ability to respond and adapt to unanticipated business challenges, changing market conditions, and unexpected business opportunities. Bootstrappers, on the other hand, aren't hampered by these forces. They can change direction overnight if that's what circumstances call for. This adaptability significantly increases their likelihood of near- and long-term success.

The truth of this Observation hit home for me on a recent weekend when a bootstrap project I am working to launch and chronicle right here on BootStrapMe.com hit a snag.

Nothing earth shattering. Simply that a service I had figured into the initial start-up proved too costly for my miniscule beginning investment.

Had I been Venture Capital or even bank funded the issue could have resulted in a major snafu not so much because of the money involved but because of the delay in time to start-up.

Fortunately with no one but myself to answer to I was able to quickly identify an alternative (and cheaper) approach and move on. No calls to VC partners, stockholders or bank loan officers necessary (just a quick discussion with Mrs. Hessinger who I must confess I think of as CEO of the household).

Remember, with added start-up cash can come a greater number of people to answer to. It can be hard enough to launch a new venture without doing it by committee.