Funding Your Business: Bootstrapping, Loans & Investors

Funding Your Business: Bootstrapping, Loans & Investors

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Introduction to Bootstrapping Your Business

Hey everybody, Ted here! Today, I'm going to share three strategies I used to bootstrap my company and turn it into a multi-million dollar business without any outside funding. If I can do it, so can you!

1. Create a Buffer & Safety Net

As I mentioned in previous videos, I didn't like taking money from banks. Instead, I saved three months' worth of living expenses. We've continued to do this both personally and for the business as expenses grew—covering things like annual memberships, legal fees, accounting, and marketing. Our safety net grew accordingly, allowing us to take more calculated risks.

A key element in our financial strategy was setting up our corporate structure in a tax-efficient way. I learned a lot from the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki, which I'd highly recommend. (I’ll put the link in the description below.)

2. Work and Live from Home

When I started my business at 21, I took full advantage of living with my immigrant Asian parents who were happy to have me stay at home. Instead of freeloading, I used this opportunity to launch my business from my bedroom, later moving to the room above my parents' garage so my business partner and I could work together.

After getting married and buying a house, I moved the business into the basement—about 400 square feet—and crammed five people in there. Did we break a few city bylaws doing that? Well, no one ever knocked on our door!

3. Purchasing a Space Instead of Renting

Starting the business from home for the first eight years saved us a lot on rent. That saved money eventually turned into a down payment for a strata office unit. Yes, we had a mortgage, but in the long run, it was better to pay ourselves rather than someone else’s mortgage.

Our first office space was in the middle of nowhere. We found it advertised on Craigslist, not even on traditional real estate websites. The space was huge for our five or six people, but we quickly grew to over a dozen employees in 1100 square feet. By owning the space, we were able to save up for a larger unit. We eventually sold the old unit and upgraded to a bigger office, benefiting from paying ourselves rather than renting.

Outro

These are just a few ways I bootstrapped my company from the ground up. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below. If you want to learn more about creating a great lifestyle business and building wealth, follow along.

Thanks for watching "You Know Ted" — I’ll see you in the next video. Bye!