A few bootstrapping tips to help turn your ideas into reality.

Most startups started without capital injections from venture capitalists and angel investors. Real numbers open eyes - venture capitalists financed only 0.05% of startups, while angels are responsible for financing 0.91%. Take a moment to really think about these percentages in relation to about 543 thousand new businesses starting each month.

The chances of getting financing are extremely low, so if you are seriously thinking about implementing your ideas, look in your pocket and start building your bootstrap ladder to the top. This is not easy, but can be very useful , both personally and financially, when you can keep your share capital intact.

Explore your market and competitors completely

Before you do anything, you need to make sure that the business is viable. Is the proposed product or service already available on the market? If there are competitors, how will consumers distinguish you? What makes you better? What is the uniqueness of the product?

Create a quick revenue business model

If you are a bootstrapper, you need to make sure that your business model generates quick income. If not, your reserves will run out before you make a profit. Constant cash flow is a must - if you carefully look at successful bootstrap startups, you can see business models that generate instant income.

Use your own relationships right at the start

Startups can greatly benefit from media engagement. Journalists and editors receive press releases from advertising agencies in batches. They are not interested in PR specialists, they are interested in entrepreneurs! They are much more interested in talking with the founders than with the advertisers.

For startups, there are many ways to cover the media, so get together and fight.

Get positive feedback from your first customers

People love startups and new technologies. Everyone likes to look modern, fashionable and stylish. Try to provide the first customers the opportunity to socially light up.

Give a discount in exchange for a link or posting a hashtag on social networks. Post customer photos with your product. The narcissism of some of the clients will play into your hands.

Do not be afraid of the growth of a corporate website

It often happens that startup sites are rapidly developing at first, but, having squandered initial budgets and turned into static ones, they become in line with those 80% who die in the first 18 months.

If the budget is limited, you can use ready-made templates and themes. Use funds for business development, and having achieved stability, upgrade your site to the desired state.

Use creative abilities for branding and marketing campaigns

“Full Pocket” will not ensure the prosperity of the brand, which can be achieved using a creative approach. Try to shoot a viral video and launch it on the network, it will be more effective than paying for airtime on TV.

Count every penny spent

Keeping track of every penny spent is crucial for a start-up business. Money goes quickly when you start. Negligence can lead to trouble. Use free specialized software for accounting, which will help you keep track of your expenses and their speed. Always control your money - there is no excuse for those who are too lazy to keep records.

Try to reduce your personal expenses as much as possible.

When a startup starts working, there is no good comfortable salary that you can get every month. In the process, everyone should be prepared to reduce unnecessary costs. Find ways to drastically reduce costs or eliminate them altogether.

Replace the large car with public transport, invite one or two neighbors to reduce living expenses, brew coffee yourself instead of buying it in coffee shops. Take a look at the expenses of your bank account over the past few months to identify areas of spending that can be reduced.

Do as much work as you can at the very beginning.

There is a big difference between work that you cannot do and work that you simply do not want to do. If the task requires special technical knowledge that you do not possess, then, of course, outsourcing this work will solve the problem, but if the work is completely feasible on its own, outsourcing costs will create unnecessary costs.

The costs of painting and redecorating the office are those that you can do yourself, so spending money on hiring specialists is very impractical.

Be persistent and don't give up

When you start, there will be many challenges and obstacles that need to be overcome. Suppliers and manufacturers are not always ready to work with new companies. It is necessary to be steadfast and probably have to beat the thresholds to achieve the required relationship. Do not accept the denial personally - "it is just business."

PS Bootstrap business is not an easy task. Honestly, complex and almost intractable, but far from impossible, so success.