Bootstrapping is easier with co-founders and partners

Type “What is bootstrapping” into Google and the algorithm will suggest multiple searches for you, including what is bootstrapping in programming, in statistics, in machine learning, in mediation analysis and even in phylogenetics (I still don’t know what it means in this last context despite clicking through to find out).

Bootstrapping is a term used now in so many contexts that its original meaning has almost been lost. It meant “pulling oneself up by one’s own bootstraps.” In other words, making the best of things with what you’ve been given.

And that’s exactly what it means in the startup context. Growing a business from the ground up without relying on external funding from investors or loans.

If you’re wealthy, you’ll be able to do this with your own resources. For the rest of us, well, we need to be a bit more creative. One way of making it work is to find co-founders or business partners to help. There’s a long list of reasons why this is a great idea.

First – and foremost – is to reduce the financial strain. After all, that’s why you’re bootstrapping! If you’re trying to minimize the cost of the start-up, convincing people to come and help in return for a future payoff via equity in the business is the perfect solution.  But beyond the immediate financial benefit are other reasons that relate more to your start-up’s long-term success.

Broader skillsets

No one entrepreneur, no matter how gifted, can possibly know all the details in all the fields required for their start-up to succeed. Finding co-founders or partners with skillsets that complement yours (and each other’s) means the business gets coverage across a range of disciplines without needing to pay for support, drawing down on limited financial resources. Product development, marketing, operations and more: there are a multitude of areas where you could find subject matter experts willing to come onboard as a co-founder or business partner.

Shared Effort

It goes without saying that multiple pairs of hands sharing the load is going to make life easier for a start-up. But it will also increase your speed to market. Allowing multiple activities to run in parallel (product development and marketing planning, for example) will provide the business with the increased bandwidth that is critical to moving fast.

Better decision making

A team of co-founders will help to minimize the risk of poor decision-making when compared with the thoughts and ideas of a single founder. Being able to talk through solutions to problems and adjustments to strategy will strengthen the chances of long-term success by combining multiple perspectives and life experiences.

Wider networks

The greater the number of people driving a start-up, the greater the number of connections the start-up can draw on. These connections provide the business with opportunities that it wouldn’t otherwise have, from strategic partnerships to potential customers to potential investors down the track.

Contributions in-kind

Co-founders might not just bring complementary skillsets and broader networks. They may also have other resources such as office space or access to specialized equipment that could help the start-up conserve funds and build momentum faster.

Moral support

It’s easy to ignore this benefit, but it might perhaps be one of the most important of all. Entrepreneurship involves battling through repeated peaks and troughs, and the troughs at first take far longer to navigate than the peaks seem to justify. Supportive co-founders will help to motivate each other to maintain the long-term commitment which for all but a few very lucky start-ups will absolutely be required.

Credibility

When the start-up is at a point where it’s ready to tap investors, a business with a team will have more credibility. Quite apart from being able to build and scale faster than a start-up with a single founder, having a team of founders committed to the business is more convincing to investors than a single entrepreneur.

Building a team of co-founders with complementary skills and networks may not just be useful for start-up success, it may be vital. And not just because successfully bootstrapping a start-up means a reduced financial strain. The shared effort, the niche contributions in kind, the moral support and the collected wisdom that result from finding well matched people will assist the start-up either to scale fast or fail fast.

It’s just a matter of finding the perfect match.