Page 38 - The Bootstrapper Bible

ChangeThis youʼll find that bankers, angels, and investors are far more likely to give you the money you need to grow. The most successful bootstrappers donʼt invent a business model. They trade on the success of a proven one. There are countless advantages to doing this. Here are a few: 1. YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT IT CAN BE DONE. If one or more people are making a living with this business model, odds are you can too. 2. YOU CAN LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES. If the guy down the street overexpands, you can learn from that. 3. YOU CAN FIND A MENTOR. Somewhere, thereʼs someone with this same model whoʼs probably willing to teach you what he knows. 4. YOU’RE NOT ALONE. The horrible uncertainty of staring down a bottomless pit doesnʼt afflict the bootstrapper who is brave enough to steal a business model. Donʼt get me wrong! Iʼm not proposing you do nothing but copy some poor schmo, word for word, step by step. Instead, copy his business model. If thereʼs someone making a good living selling ice cream sandwiches from a truck, maybe you could sell papayas the same way. The business model is the same—same distribution, same competitive pressures, and so on. Thereʼs plenty of room for creativity when you bootstrap, but why not take advantage of the knowledge thatʼs there for you? FOLLOW THE MONEY Understanding the value chain of your business is a great first step in getting to the core of how youʼre going to succeed. A value chain is the process that a product goes through before | iss. 6.01 | i | U | X | + | h 38/103 f