Going Beyond Bootstrapping

You’ve managed to launch your business on a couple of hundred bucks. You built your enterprise by bootstrapping, following your business plan, working really hard.

You’re moving along, grabbing from your toolbag of bootstrapping magic tricks to inch forward. You’re borrowing from Peter to pay that irksome Paul, and it’s really not much fun anymore.

Then there’s a critical point at which you see the potential more than ever but you just don’t know how to scale to meet it. You can get past this challenge. If you have a marketable product or service, you can get past this onerous stage and start capitalizing.

How? Get help.

Two very little, immensely powerful words.

Get help by asking for it. What I have seen work…

• Do a search for venture capitalists, industry giants, incubators, resources in your area. Comb the web to see if there are opportunities for you as a partner, or as a candidate for economic or research investment.
• Leverage Equity — Cash investments are a good way to create long-term partnerships to build your business. Leveraging equity has become a popular way for business owners to trade equity for the expertise of their investors. As an entrepreneur, you have a lot to gain from their knowledge and experience without having to incur…