Why do funding sources matter? There are many inspirational things to read about bootstrapping a business idea, but a good bit of what there is to learn might feel depressing as fuck. Working long hours is not daunting whenever there are end goals in mind to be passionate about. And while the physical demands of performing whatever job necessary may feel grueling, achieving milestones along the way is what makes it all worth doing.
What can be so bad about putting resources into developing hopes and dreams? Worth risk of failure? Is funding a stressor? Maybe professional career hangs in the balance? Or worse, what if everything goes like it is supposed to, then people actually start to have expectations? It is costly to maintain relationships. The scariest part about spending money on a project is that the project has to make more than the money invested back or the system falls apart.
Such a simple idea as profit margin seems easy to grasp, yet is hard to manage. In a world where big companies can unethically make money by tiptoeing around policies to control a market for personal gain, the average person has a complicated time earning income while providing value. The endless struggle of exploitable practices outperforming progressive initiatives is enough to make anyone feel like Sisyphus trying to roll a boulder up a mountain.
Without access to the same tools as the giants, how to do the little guys keep the magic alive? More access to technology, education, strength, and experience is available for each other when people collaborate together. Every company has a purpose that includes, but is more than, making money. That purpose is different for every experience. Something every purpose has in common: consequences for better or worse. Businesses, especially small ones, may or may not have much influence in the grand scheme of the universe. Bootstrapping allows team players to have some direct input in the immediate situation for both themselves and others.
Photo of Jason Mathena with Vibe Doctors by Karen Lozinski