People: The bootstrappers commodity

Filed in archive Entrepreneurship on April 19, 2008

Vikas Sehgal, co-founder and CEO of Nagarro Inc., built his company mainly by starting with skilled people and using the money his company earned to hire more, according to IndUS Business Journal Online.

There are several reasons bootstrappers rely on people as their chief commodity both to start a company and create growth:
• Time is money. The bootstrapper's own time and talents are generally the chief initial investment to get a venture up and running
• Sales is key. Sales, the most important part of generating revenue, remains a very person to person and human feature in business
• Marketing is manpower. Without money for advertising and promotion a major part of any marketing for bootstrappers must be about word of mouth and developing relationships
• Creativity is capital. Without the money to invest in additional specialized services or hire specialists for every function in their company, bootstrappers must rely on the creativity and resourcefulness of themselves and a small circle of helpers to accomplish tasks
• Debt is deadly. Sure, some bootstrappers have started their businesses with credit cards and other borrowed resources, but remember that debt service raises profit margins and won't necessarily go away if your business fails while good people who can stretch your resources are a much better investment.

Any points to add? Why not join our MySpace or Yahoo! Groups and make comment or do so in the comment section below.

Photo Credit: Vincent Cahill, MorgueFile