Most of the recession advise goes like
- Cut flab and cut it deep – where is the flab in the bootstrapped organization? Already the full organization is working on a delayed gratification mode i.e. putting off current rewards in anticipation of future rewards.
- Keep 6 months cash – readers of this blog will already be doing since they are more mortally afraid of the uncertain future than the bigger companies.
- Do things which make money now – duh? Bootstrappers can’t afford to do any other thing anyways!
So the key point is that recession has a relatively smaller impact on the bootstrapper’s behaviour. They don’t really change anything but just add more rigor to what they were already doing.
But make no mistake the environment does get tough for everyone but relatively less tough for the bootstrapper (it was already tough!). He was anyways not getting any credit! What changes are the customer’s needs. The customers were definitely taking credit or investing in systems which can be cut or spending more than they should have been in the first place. Reorient yourself to the pain the customer is facing and keep up the bootstrapping ethics.
Bootstrapped start up is a phase and not a permanence. It should lead to a small business which can grow to a bigger one. However, be prepared in this recession for a prolonged bootstrapped phase.
