11 Boot-Strapping Tips A

Compiled by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz 4/13

1. Focus on Cash Flow, not Profit-ability, to keep paying the expenses until you are discovered and sales surge – then you’ll start making a profit. If you have the passion, start with your own money & your other founder’s capital too. Create short Sales Cycles by starting with lots of small customers, till you land the big one (and can brag about it).

2. Forecast from Bottom-up. Top-Down is totally unrealistic at this stage. However, look at Top-Down to get the size of the market and what your potential is. You cant fool Investors with Top-Down, only yourself. What capability do you have now? What can you realistically build in the future? Start there and look at each Quarter, to see if you want to adjust forecast.

3. Ship, then Test. What ??? “How will we ever establish our reliability? A “perfect product” can cost you too much – time & $$$. When it’s “good enough” get it out, for Beta Testing to the early adapters – to get the final bugs out & customer feedback. You can add more bells & whistles later. What you need now is Cash Flow, to complete development, build product for inventory for new customers.

4. Forget about getting the ideal “Proven Team”. Well, maybe one Founder or Advisor would be okay. What you need mostly is, a young, cheap & hungry team (ie, the smart kid that doesn’t know it cant be done). Passion is more important than their previous positions. Show you care, give them a share, make them a dare, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised, I swear !!!

5. Start as a Service Business. Can you Consult in your field and “earn while you learn” ??? Can you work along-side your Beta, so you see how the product works? Could you – at least – help them with the Installation? In either case, you’ll get immediate feedback to know how to eliminate any “bugs” and see what improvements you can make.

6. Focus on Function, not Form. The main thing you need to prove is, that your product “works” – to meet the needs of you Customers. Does it solve their problem? Is it easy to use? Does it offer them advantages the amount to “good Value” ??? Will it save Time & $$$ and/or provide them with extra Capability?

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