Bootstrapping and Double Dipping

Bootstrapping and Double Dipping

“Life really is generous to those who pursue their destiny.” – Paulo Coelho

There are several ways to start a business.  Raising capital and going big seems to get all the attention.  But bootstrapping a business while you’re doing the 9 to 5 is a more attractive option.  Largely because going big is an easy out.  Big means putting things on hold and focusing on the big prize.  While this option gets the most attention, it’s not reality when you have kids in college and a mortgage and car payments and a thousand other financial cuts.  No, it’s far more realistic to opt for the bootstrapping path.

Coelho, Seth Godin, James Altucher, Tim Ferriss…  and countless others have pointed out the path.  It’s a great time to listen.  So that’s my holiday gift to myself.  Starting today, figure some things out, get moving on a few options, choose the one that makes the most sense for you, and begin.  And in the meantime, keep on chugging away at the day job and making it successful too.  Nothing at all wrong with having two things going well at the same time…  and maybe keep writing, and perhaps you could add a third revenue stream.  And then another bootstrapped business.  And so on.

It’s all attitude, really.  And while I’ve wanted to start a business, I’ve never really had the burning desire to take the risk.  Screw the risk.  Bootstrap and double dip.