Swerving off the bootstrapping trail…or am I?
A thought has been occurring to me recently, to the point where I have taken the next logical step in exploring a very…er…unbootstrapper-like???…possibility.
But is it really?
Here's the thing. It has occurred to me as I work on my new interactive blog network startup PostRanger.com that what I really need is time not money…so far typical bootstrapper thinking, right?
Well, here's where it gets complicated. As many regular readers of this blog know, I'm a part-time entrepreneur with a full time day job managing the production side of a company in a media industry where I have something like 15 or more years of full-time experience.
There's still some time to work on my side venture, which I believe could be a major Internet player someday, but not the time to put into it that I should.
So the thought came to me: The economy is tough right now and some companies, including the one I work for, might be interested in selling off some assets, might indeed be forced to by banks.
Some of these assets, like the subsidiary I work for, could be profitable in their own right even though larger companies are struggling.
These are essentially like hundreds of profitable small businesses run by a larger corporation and perhaps in some cases might be better off running lean and mean without the big corporate overhead.
Suppose someone like me was to find a person or persons willing to loan the money necessary to buy the subsidiary from the larger corporation paying off the loan with interest from the profits of the business.
Once the debt is gone and the company is operating free and clear, such an entrepreneur could then, using the expertise he/she already possesses in the industry, assemble a trusted management team and take a hands-on but somewhat diminished role in running and growing the company.
The objective, in this case, would not be money. Portions of the company's cash flow would be reinvested for growth using basic bootstrapping principles.
The objective would be additional time gained by the entrepreneur to work on bootstrapping other projects while growing this one also using simple bootstrapping means.
My scenario is only partially hypothetical. If you have any background in this sort of thing and would like to help me set up such a deal, I'd like to talk to you. Please e-mail me and let's discuss this…bootstrapped acquisition idea?…in greater detail.
Photo Check: Ghislaine, MorgueFile