Should you bootstrap on Google Apps?

Filed in archive Bootstrapper Resources on March 22, 2010

A concomitant principle of bootstrapping in the new and lean economy is to make as much use as possible of inexpensive or free web-based services to handle all the necessary back-office functions. Comparing the costs and commitments required to set up a conventional office with the low-budget, highly-connected options offered by newer online services is a step should be taken by all new business founders, and the results usually show a conclusive financial advantage accruing to the newer options.

But you have to take care not to go too far, as the Small Business Technology website recently did when comparing Google Apps with Microsoft Exchange for small office solutions. It's true that Apps, at an economical $50 per user per year is less expensive than Exchange, and also true that Apps provides more, well, apps, than Exchange does... Exchange is just a mail server. It's like saying that the United States offers more features than Ottawa. But it's not the number of features, but the features themselves that should decide you, and it's clear from the article that a little shopping around wouldn't hurt either, since the rate quoted for the Exchange service is about six times the market average.

From the bootstrapping perspective, Apps is almost a no-brainer; the $50 fee is for an "advanced" version, you can actually start using it for free. Unless you have a killer need for more costly options, why wouldn't you start with Apps? It's easy to migrate to other platforms should you feel the need in the future, or upgrade to the $50 level for more options and storage. But generalizations are no substitute for making that logical comparison based on your own requirements.