On the whole, the pandemic was not a good time. But amid those dark days of isolation, there sprouted fragile shoots of light. Relieved of the usual pressures and responsibilities of their daily lives, people began to pick up hobbies. Social media filled with posts of people trying their hands at knitting. At baking. At playing guitar, and writing.
The results were not perfect out of the chute: Early knitting projects got tangled and twisted; the sourdough starters failed to launch. But over time, the results got better. Knitted book marks gave way to full sweaters. The sourdough emerged from the oven, golden brown and perfectly round.
As adults, it’s rare that we have the chance to learn something totally new from scratch. We figure out what we’re good at, and build careers around that. We want to try new things, but life gets in the way. And anyway, learning is hard. It’s uncomfortable to try something and fail, especially once it stops being a requirement of daily life.
But for bootstrapped founders, learning is everything. In fact, I’d say bootstrapping and a growth mindset go hand-in-hand. Here’s how.
Embracing The Beginner’s Mindset
When I first started my company, Jotform, back in 2006, there were plenty of things I knew I was good at. Programming had been my first love from an early age: It came naturally to me, and I had a knack for developing products that people gravitated towards. But I didn’t just want to be a programmer—I wanted to be a founder. That required a depth of knowledge in areas like marketing and HR that I’d never previously encountered.
To build a business, you have to embrace what’s known as the Beginner’s Mindset, which means being open to learning new skills and absorbing new knowledge. It’s a highly useful practice even within areas you consider yourself well-versed—as Zen master Shunryu Suzuki pointed out, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.”
But perhaps the most straightforward path to the Beginner’s Mindset is being an actual beginner. Bootstrapped founders have to learn a lot in a short time, but that exposure to new ideas can lead to new ways of thinking, which in turn leads to increased creativity.
Learning something new takes humility and curiosity—and if you want your business to grow, you’ll need a healthy dose of both.
Your Business Is Your Playground
One of the best things about bootstrapping? In the beginning, the stakes are relatively low. You’re growing slowly, and that time and space give founders the opportunity to tinker, experiment and refine their ideas without a ton of pressure.
In many ways, your early startup days aren’t much different from the way a young child might explore a playground. The first time they try the monkey bars, they’re probably not going to make it all the way across. It’s all about experimenting—trying, then failing, then trying again. Kids don’t approach play with a sense of competition, or panic that they might not be the best at it off the bat. They’re just giving it a shot and seeing what happens.
The key thing about experimenting is that you have to actually do it. Sure, you can research the monkey bars. You can read all about their history as playground equipment, or even a comprehensive how-to on the mechanics of swinging from bar to bar. But none of that compares to the information you get from taking that first swing. The same goes for skiing, juggling, cooking, and so much more.
For bootstrapped founders, their company is their playground. Unlike with VC-backed startups, where the pressure is immediate and intense, bootstrappers can test the waters, and see what works and what doesn’t. That freedom to try, readjust, and try something else is invaluable for growth.
Learn To Navigate The Bumps In The Road
There’s no two ways around it: Failing is a necessary part of growth.
That said, there are times when experimenting and failure are too risky. If you’ve got investors or other stakeholders watching your every move, it’s definitely more difficult to accept the possibility of a setback. Writing for Harvard Business Review, Peter Bregman affirms that it’s important to be discriminating about when to challenge yourself.
“In high risk, high leverage situations, it’s better to stay within your current capability. In lower risk situations, where the consequences of failure are less, better to push the envelope,” he writes. “The important point is to know that pushing the envelope, that failing, is how you learn and grow and succeed. It’s your opportunity.”
The great thing about bootstrapping is that especially early on, pushing the envelope will have relatively few consequences. You can reap the benefits of taking calculated risks, and if things don’t go as planned, well, you’re still one step closer to figuring it out for the next time.
You’ll also have the benefit of learning how to deal with setbacks. Think about skateboarders or gymnasts, who train themselves to fall in a way that minimizes injury. Their goal isn’t to avoid falling; if they took that approach, they’d never get better. Instead, they get good at falling, to the point where taking a tumble is just a workaday part of any practice session.
Bootstrapping isn’t the only way to launch a business. But it is ideal for those founders whose goal is to grow with their companies, and develop a deep understanding of a business’s many facets. Of course, doing anything for the first time is hard, whether it’s a pandemic hobby or launching a startup. But unless you give it a try, you’ll never know if you can succeed.
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