Overcoming Entrepreneurial Fears: Bootstrapping Insights
Life as an entrepreneur isn’t easy and starting a business without external funding is filled with risks and fears. Whether it’s hardware, software or a service there are so many pitfalls and dread of failure.
Bootstrapping has so many drawbacks such as lack of funds, stretched timelines due to working on a full-time job, the frustrations of the slow progress and failures tend to sting more due to those precious little funds you have. You also can fall into the risk of comparing yourself with other peers or organisations you want to compete against, but you haven’t fully established.
That fear of failure is something everyone must face with and overcome which is difficult. That fear can make you want to take the easy option, the cutting corners, rushing or even giving up completely. Sometimes a potential opportunity arises that causes you to pivot might make your business flourish or bring your idea to its full potential.
During development of the Claymore deployer and because it has been bootstrapped there has been times of indecision due to the fear of failing. However, I would try and turn it around in seeing the cost of failing. For example, it would have been easy to try and use inexpensive and unproven equipment for the 1st batch of the deployer due to budget constraints. I could save money in areas if I cut corners and sometimes that indecision in constantly optimising the design which extended the development time. If I did cut those corners or use inferior components to save a couple of hundred of Euros and the system fails with a customer I would lose even more. Understanding the cost of not doing things right and losing faith in customers or needing to buy something again is more expensive.
Thinking in the long-term gain than the short-term pain and wanting to avoid regrets in the future are great motivators. Paying that bit extra for better and reliable results is better than the cheap and easy option. When it comes to development risks don’t go away with inaction and the first steps of overcoming risks is knowing they are there, coming up with a plan and executing those plans. Talking to someone to for advice and looking at your work can help overcome any anxieties.
For me looking back in the future and not achieving anything and regretting inaction is possibly more frightening than letting the idea of failure overcome you.
To help motivate myself I decided to design my “Just Dae it” t-shirt whenever I am faced with a challenge that makes me doubt myself.
https://www.wyrmengineering.store/products/bravado-unisex-cotton-t-shirt