Remember that big companies are only that—big. They are not more efficient, productive, or innovative. In study after study, large businesses score a poor second to small ones in these categories.
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“How long should a man’s legs be? Long enough to reach the ground,” Lincoln said. How much money does a business need? You need enough money to get to market. A bootstrap operation places you in the heart of the market sooner than any other business structure. Without capital, you will have to sell something immediately in order to establish a cash flow. To attract this quick acceptance, your product or service will have to be good and practical—like a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Heath Bar Crunch ice cream. Bootstrapping gives you a tremendous advantage, revealing the strengths and weaknesses in your business better than a thousand preliminary studies and surveys could do. Just as hunger will make you alert, so lack of capital will make you keenly aware of the business environment.
