✂️ How to Do More with Less: 5 Strategies...
5 essential strategies for bootstrapping your startup in South Africa. Learn how to utilize financial metrics, leverage technology, hire effectively, set firm targets, and apply lean and agile methodologies to maximize capital efficiency and extend your startup's runway.
It’s a running joke how scarce early-stage startup funding is in SA. Seriously. We’re even lagging behind other African countries here. So whaddya gonna do?
Play the cards you’re dealt, of course. Bootstrapping is an art form, a way to get going and grow without outside capital. (In fact, we’re bootstrapping The Open Letter!) And, when you’re bootstrapping, nothing is more important than capital efficiency.
So, how do you make the little money you have go as far as possible?
5 ways to stay capital efficient
- Get metrics in place ASAP: Numbers don't lie, and understanding costs and incomes from the get-go provides clarity. Proper financial tracking and metrics help you make informed decisions, so you can optimise spend and know exactly where to improve.
- You can use a tool like Google’s LookerStudio (free) to pull in data from various places and run it like a central startup dashboard.
- Leverage technology: There are loads of free and affordable tools available to help you streamline, automate and enhance productivity. From open-source software to cloud solutions or collaborative tools, tech can help you trim overhead costs and boost efficiency.
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- Hire smartly: Before expanding your team, consider contracting out certain roles, especially if they aren't central to your business. Embrace the gig economy or think about part-time positions. When it is time to hire, invest in versatile individuals capable of multitasking, to maximise return on each salary.
- We consult a few startups on various aspects of early-stage building. Get in touch and let's see how we can help you grow.
- Set targets and stand firm: Sometimes, the path to your goal can seem insurmountable without pumping in more funds. Instead of relenting, set your targets and be unwavering. Push your creativity to the limit, hustle relentlessly, seek strategic partnerships, and don't be shy to ask for favours or collaborate. Many times, audacity and resourcefulness can achieve what money cannot.
- Quarterly, monthly and weekly targets together with someone external that can keep you accountable is worth a lot. A good accelerator program can help you with this, but be sure one of their key contributions to you as a founder is accountability.
- Lean operations and Agile methodologies: Adopting a lean startup approach allows you to swiftly test and validate ideas with minimal investment, cutting down the risk of major upfront costs. This helps ensure you only invest in ideas with demonstrated potential. Pair this with agile product development methodologies, so you can iterate and get products to market faster while getting more feedback.
- The Lean Startup is part of startup folklore. Whilst it shouldn’t be treated as the only way to build a startup, the thinking presented in the book is still helpful today.
Got some stellar workarounds for doing more with less? Hit reply and let us know…