Small businesses must be resourceful
to stay afloat. With smaller budgets, big ideas need to be as proactive as they
are cost-efficient, taking into account everything from consistent industry
changes, cash flow, customer needs and the unexpected challenges you never saw
coming. Multitasking to keep up with the big guys on a fraction of the budget
is why small businesses have become notorious for bootstrapping, and being
creative about their approach to staying competitive.
When push comes to shove, small
business owners get scrappy. We spoke with seven entrepreneurs about how they
do more with less and why it gives them the winning edge.
1.
Use Time Wisely
Laura
Kenney, founder and editor-in-chief of YouBeauty.com,
has set up a process to make sure cool things get done well and that the right
things get prioritized.
"There are so many opportunities
to explore daily: mind-blowing new video experiences, smart ways to serve up
your content to readers, social sharing tools, new ways to improve the shopping
experience. It’s enough to make your head explode, and you could spend all day
learning about these and no time actually working on your site's real-time
goals. It’s easy to get lost in the cool ideas," she said.
"We’ve put a process into place
to control this, with weekly priorities meetings, to put the right people in
the room to decide what to move forward with, what to reconsider, and tag a
priority to each goal so that our development team has clear direction on which
task to do first."
2.
Be Smart About Customer Feedback
Jojo Hedaya, co-founder of Unroll.me,
a service that rolls out your emails throughout the day rather than all at
once, knows the value of listening to your customers, but being resourceful
about what you do to address it.
“User feedback is very important,
but a lot of times users think they want something that could end up hurting
their experience. That’s why tracking a user’s behavior is super important. You
must use the feedback that your power users give you and combine that with
their behavioral data,” he said.
“At Unroll.me we get go through all
of our user feedback and have daily discussions during our morning stand-up. We
then decide if any of the feedback is worth moving on. We then put together the
simplest test and track, track, track.”
3.
You’ve Heard It Before, But Hire Well
A lot of startups and small
businesses focus on culture when it comes to who they hire — so personality has
to be a match — but Alexa Hirschfeld,
co-founder of Paperless Post, knows that when hiring, while a
good fit matters, you cannot skimp on skill.
“Never compromise on the quality of
a new hire in a small company. If need be, contract with super talented people
who you can't hire yet to get to know them. Recognize that skill comes first
and personality comes second, but if the personality is wrong, still don't hire
someone.”
4.
Don't Sell Out Just Yet
For some small business owners, the
opportunity to sell to a larger corporation with the big money backup that will
help to propel an entrepreneur’s idea into the big leagues can be tempting. On
the other hand, Lee Hnetinka, co-founder and CEO at WunWun,
the app that gets you what you want when you want it, says to hold on tight and
for as long as you can.
"Do it for as long as you can,
and you'll keep more of your company in the end. This said, if a good deal
comes your way take it. This is a tricky bet and you need to know the right
time to take [your idea] outside."
5.
Ask Around
What small businesses lack in
budgets, they gain in a network of like-minded entrepreneurs who have been
there before. Alban Denoyel, co-founder and CEO at Sketchfab.com,
says that bootstrapping is a team sport, and more people than you think want to
play.
“When you need or want something,
just ask for it! You'll be surprised how often people are more willing to help
than not. Most entrepreneurs are willing to help each other.”
6.
Never Stop Looking
Most small business owners know that
bootstrapping is a necessity, and finding the most resourceful solutions is key
to survival. Joe Lallouz, co-founder at Grand St.,
a marketplace for creative, small-batch gadgets, says it's important to always
keep your ear to the ground.
"Resourcefulness is an
entrepreneur's best friend. In order to succeed, you need to move quickly and
do whatever it takes to get things done. The reality is that startups are
always bootstrapping something, whether it is an experimental feature, a new
business model or the entire company."
7.
Dream Big
And though bootstrapping is about
being on your toes and coming up with creative solutions, Alex
Winter, founder and CEO of Placemeter, says to be
careful about what you accept as success.
“Don't trade your ambitions for
leanness. Be resourceful and scrappy, but keep aiming high.”
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