The above Self portrait...or almost self portrait...was taken while on a long drive collecting photos for part of my ongoing social blogging bootstrap PostRanger.com.

Read more about what's going on here and here and in a future post.

If I look somewhat distant and visionary...well...I think I was actually just a bit tired.
I've since loaded the photo to my profile page because I think there's something kind of iconic about it. It is the portrait of a part-time entrepreneur, nearly synonymous with the early stage bootstrapper in my view.

And I think this stage of the bootstrapping process for startup of my own business venture has taught me a couple of important things about what's needed to move forward:

• Burn the candle at both ends. At the time I took the photo above, I was working on a weekend not relaxing like other working stiffs. As a bootstrapper with no money for startup all you have to expend is energy and drive. It means sleepless nights and working overtime and if you want to know whether you're up to it first read "Entrepreneur lifestyle-Can you handle it?"
• Reach beyond your grasp. There's a reason the get rich quick schemes you hear about via e-mail and see on the Net don't work. They present an easy way to create value for you and a customer that takes little or no effort and a business model that has supposedly been thoroughly tested and proven by someone else. The bootstrapper knows there is nothing easy about creating a business model even if in the end the model is terribly simple. The effort may also force a transformation in the bootstrapper requiring him/her to reach outside the comfort zone. Read more about "How to become the right person" for your idea at Bootstrap in Bangalore.
• Be focused but flexible. In "The Bootstrapper's Bible" marketing guru Seth Godin states as part of his "manifesto" "...I will not waver from my stated goal and plan-until I decide to change it."
• Seek the solution not the goal. One of the problems with being a visionary is that your vision may be all wrong. Instead simply seek the answer to the problem that will add value to your customer's life.

Happy Bootstrapping!