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No 7 December 2003 Maybe you'll end up around the world or accross the street. Knowing in advance where you're going is not as important as landing on your feet, somewhere you want to be. ______________________________________ Working on a Shoestring BudgetA Bootstrapper" is a person who starts a business with inadequate capital and manages to build it up relying more on creativity or resourcefulness rather than a chequebook balance. It is a universal term. If you asked a room full of entrepreneurial people how many bootstrapped their ventures, the majority of the group would raise their hands. Why? Because 60% of all new businesses begin as undercapitalised start-ups, so say Small Business Association's statistics. A Bootstrapper" is a person who starts a business with inadequate capital and manages to build it up relying more on creativity or resourcefulness rather than a chequebook balance. It is a universal term. If you asked a room full of entrepreneurial people how many bootstrapped their ventures, the majority of the group would raise their hands. Why? Because 60% of all new businesses begin as undercapitalised start-ups, so say SBA statistics. As Portfolio Worker/NEWORKers, we probably all started out as a bootstrapper - our common denominator. But perhaps the most amazing thing of the NEWORKer is our ability to manoeuvre successfully through the challenges that working with a little or no money poses. However, turning limited resources into a self-sustaining enterprise takes special skills and mental conditioning--training that is not developed by osmosis or readily available in a traditional workplace setting. There are some basic principals that contribute to a portfolio worker's success. How about the following that will help you successfully build and grow your business on a shoestring budget. Here we go! 1. Leave your corporate baggage at the door. Besides a severance package and personal belongings, you leave the workplace environment with influences that affect your mind-set and shape your behaviour. Most employee positions are insulated from cash flow issues. You can order and waste supplies, make long-distance calls at will, excessively use fast post mail or couriers, frivolously make photocopies, or spend everything in your management budget without much thought as to whether or not you're making the most cost-effective decisions. Chances are your behaviour isn't any different from your co-workers. Bad habits begin to germinate here because you're not being conditioned to think about how much your actions are costing the company. When you strike out on your own those spendthrift habits can kill you. Your survival as a portfolio worker will depend on your ability to distinguish between your needs, wants and absolutes. Make it your business to know the difference, so you don't indulge in your wants while ignoring your needs and end up too broke to handle your absolutes! 2. Avoid ideas that really don't have a future. Before you throw your heart, soul and piggyback into an idea, ask yourself three questions:
Many people have great ideas but they flounder in the marketplace because there really is not an audience for the product/service. You can side-step this heartache by asking yourself those three questions. How solid and thorough your answers, though, will depend on your research and willingness to be honest with yourself. You can make sure your idea has longevity by digging up some information on trends for the next 5, 10, 20 or 100 years that substantiate your thoughts. A low-cost strategy: visit your local library and do a database search for articles or books using the keyword "trend" or another word combination based on your own area of interest. Testing your idea against the past, present and future is also critical. You need to be sure that your idea isn't a recycled version of something that has failed miserably in the marketplace, and if it is, you'll want to evaluate its predecessors so you can determine ways that your "fresh" or "revamped" approach can fare better. Scan books such as the ones that chronicle history, , old telephone books that show you who has gone in or out of business and who is thriving 3. Ignore all the "free" money talk. "Where can I find 'free' money or a grant to start my business" is one of the most frequently asked questions. Truth be told, "free" money is a myth. There are few government agencies, private foundations and organisations who give individuals money to finance a startup. The majority of available grant money is really targeted at not-for-profit organisations and government agencies. There may be a limited amount of money awarded to individuals for scholarships and financial aid or to fund artistic activities or fellowships. People who respond to junk e-mail, ads, infomercials and books that promise to help you "Rake in $1,000,000 per year by getting free grants" or "??????" are only setting themselves up for heartache. 4. Mimic others' creative financing solutions. Be creative in financing! Involve others - if at all possible have them fund parts of your business - sponsorship. Think outside the box, imagine unorthodox solutions for your situation. 5. Conserve your cash by exploiting freebies. Companies spend billions of dollars on samples and give-aways every year. Since big-business suppliers are competing fiercely for the small-business dollar, you can get FREE office supplies, software, and resource guides to help you in every area of your business. Here's a sampling:
6. Focus on marketing tactics that require more time and energy than money. You'll find that some of the best marketing tools cost you very few dollars. Take advantage of all opportunities to have your business listed for FREE in various directories or databases. For example, use the opportunities provided by your Internet Service Provider. Another example is for newsletter publishers, which many small-businesses produce. 7. Handle price objections with finesse. It's premature to automatically deem people as unqualified customers when they say "Your price is too high." If you understand the meaning of an objection, you can respond with finesse and still get the sale. Very often a price-balker isn't making the right comparisons - comparing apples and oranges instead of two apples. If someone is comparing your product or service to something of lesser degree, it's your job to point out the benefits your offering gives that are worth the difference in price--not view the comment as an irritant. Other tactics for chipping away at price objections include quantifying your offering's benefits in terms of price and minimising or showing how insignificant a price difference is over the article's lifetime when compared to the extra benefits. It may be impossible to eliminate every objection that comes your way. However, by preparing some answers today, you'll land more sales tomorrow! ______________________________________ "This country will not be a good enough place for any of us to live in - Anonymous
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