This is the final piece in this 3 Part series, courtesy of Alex Genadinik. Here is Part 1 and Part 2 if you need to catch up.
Introducing: Guest blogger and fellow Tweep Alex. Alex has a background in software engineering and is currently focused on building semantic systems for the business world. He is the founder of Semantic Valley, a web 3.0 start-up specializing in creating taxonomy and ontology based products. Their alpha-stage demo of a semantic search of shoes can be seen at MilderWilder.com. Say hello on Twitter too! @genadinik
Are Some Things Impossible to Do for Free?
Legal Documents
At some point, a company needs patents, trademarks, copyrights, operating agreements and equity-vesting schedule documents. There are at least two options on how to get these for free.
You can barter. Some lawyers will work for equity, but this is my least favorite method because the documents listed above require an intellectual property lawyer, a general business lawyer, and likely along the way, you will need a few other types of lawyers. Typically, the fewer equity holders you have the better.
My favorite approach is to D.I.Y (Do It Yourself). Make sure you only create the documents you really need. A lawyer might write up a 50-page partnership agreement that will take tens of hours and cost tens of thousands of dollars, but it is much easier to work with partners you can trust and be able to write a simple document that covers the basics and allows you to move on and focus on running the actual business.
Office Space
There is some debate in the bootstrapping world about whether to have an office or not. I would say it is much better to not have an office. Don’t make your partners waste time, money and stress tolerance on commuting. Why not use those to work on the actual company?! And when there have to be meetings, just get creative and find what works.
Holding Meetings
Get used to online meetings using Skype video chat, and other remote conferencing software. It will help you avoid trekking down to the local Starbucks and more importantly, open you up to working and collaborating with people anywhere in the world.
Registering Domain Names
This is one area where you have to pay a little. A domain name costs about $10/year. I realize nearly all the good domain names are taken. My advice is that instead of going out and buying a $1,000 domain name, hold out on buying a domain name for your company until you have at least a somewhat clear marketing and branding strategy. Once do you do decide to look for a domain name, here are some good qualities of a name you should look for:
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- No more than 5 syllables
- Catchy and easily rolls of the tongue
- Easy to spell and has no uncommon misspellings (if it does, buy those domains too)
- Gives a general clue about what you offer, but is not too specific
Server Hosting Plans
Once you have a good domain name, you need to host your application. Hosting fees can not be avoided. Even if you host from home (not recommended), you will still incur electricity fees, use space which you inevitably pay for, and allocate hardware resources, as well as maintenance time. Ironically, hosting from home is likely most expensive.
There are plenty of hosting plans that suit start-up companies, ranging from $10-25 per month, depending on a few factors like the technology you are using. They often offer great support and have 99.9% uptime. Also plenty of cloud hosting options are available.
Accounting
Accounting turns out it is easy because with little or no revenue, it is extremely easy and also a D.I.Y. Once revenue begins flowing in, a part time book-keeper can be contracted.
Giving You the Biggest Chance to Succeed
Bootstrapping might be fun, but it does not make a successful company by itself.
So go nuts innovating, learning your market, discovering your customers and solving their pain-points. This is the other piece of the puzzle to your success. With a burn rate of essentially zero and a well-oiled machine as your team, you can stretch the finances you begin with and give yourself the most time to get your company on a path to success.
For more discussion on various topics in this 3 Part series, contact Alex Genadinik on Twitter- @genadinik
Follow these links if you need to catch up on Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.
Warm regards,
Cori Padgett