Im a big advocate of bootstrapping a startups growth rather than taking on VC funding.
Its an approach I took from day one with my company and it undoubtedly contributed to our success.
We didnt use any top-secret growth hacks or have game-changing connections in the early days of Maropost.
We started at zero and grew our user base and MRR entirely bootstrapped throughout the years.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
We put a lot of thought into branding from the beginning.
There is an element of trust associated with a strong brand name.
With a SaaS, the name is extremely important.
A strong brand name is short and unique, while also having unlimited branding potential.
I felt Maropost checked all of the boxes.
This is the worst mistake you might make its never going to be perfect.
If you keep waiting for perfection and delaying, you will never launch.
This is also a great way to get a feel for overall interest and set realistic early revenue goals.
This ultimately helps you to build a much better product.
To this day we continue to listen to our users and take their feedback seriously when developing new features.
Listen to your users they are your most valuable asset.
Make profitability a focus and know your numbers
Being self-funded forces you to know your numbers.
Each months budget is determined by what you made the month prior.
When you are bootstrapped you have to generate revenue to stay above water there are no other options.
Its sink or swim, and that pressure will force you to make running a profitable company a priority.
I would highly suggest that you re-invest every possible dollar back into your business.
When you start out you will be running as lean as possible we were in the same boat.
Once we became more profitable we kept the same bootstrap mentality, re-investing into the business.
to fuel your customer acquisition growth.
This is how we were able to scale to the point we are at now.
Hire the best talent slow and fire fast when necessary
Your business is only as good as its employees.
They represent your brand and they are ultimately the reason your business experiences success and growth.
I made it a point to always hire the best talent for every position, from entry-level to executive.
Take your time during the search process.
Not every hire will be your best, either, and that is to be expected.
If you have a bad hire fire them as quickly as possible.
Ive learned that people typically dont change the sooner you remove a problematic employee the better.
Trust me; the damage will be far more severe if you keep a cancerous employee around.
From automated payment and billing notifications to onboarding and feature emails, we have streamlined as much as possible.
This frees up your team to focus on the most important tasks.
Finding the perfect balance between automation and human interaction will vary greatly from company to company.
Its important to find the balance that works best for your business.
