Ask HN: When bootstrapping a startup, what are some ways to keep the lights on? - sherm8n
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codegeek
Plain and Simple. Charge from Day 1 and don't give stuff for free unless it
absolutely makes sense. Also, keep costs low as much as possible. Don't get
AWS if you can get a $5/Month DigitalOcean droplet. Don't spend money on ads
etc. unless you know exactly HOW it works. Focus on building inbound marketing
i.e. people finding you organically.

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sherm8n
Thanks! What if people say they want to try it for free? Do you say no?

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codegeek
Just to add to what @hawkice said already, you can offer them a money back
period or offer a short free trial like for 7-10 days BUT take credit card
upfront. Always take credit card upfront, period. If not, then you will get
tons of tire kickers and time wasters. For bootstrapped, it will not be of too
much use to you and may add unnecessary support time.

It is simple. I offer a 30 day money back guarantee. But if you cannot commit
to credit card on day 1 knowing that you have nothing to lose, then you are
not the customer I want.

~~~
sherm8n
Great insights. Why do some businesses have a free tier then? Does that only
make sense if you're venture backed?

~~~
codegeek
I would think so. Having a completely Free tier will surely get a lot more
signups but how many of them convert. venture backed or well funded companies
have the time and resource to handle free clients a lot more.

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Mz
I just tripped across this and I thought it would interest you:

[https://www.moonlightwork.com](https://www.moonlightwork.com)

I also run a google group called Business Bootstrappers and you are welcome to
join:

[https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/business-
bootstrap...](https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!forum/business-
bootstrappers)

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ak39
Keeping your day job until the opportunity cost outweighs the monetary value
of your day job.

~~~
sherm8n
Well, too late for that :)

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marksmyword
The easiest way would be to do most everything yourself and keep your overhead
as low as possible besides the cost of hosting. Get a cheap server from
[https://www.digitalocean.com](https://www.digitalocean.com) for example but
keep in mind its not cheap to manage it especially if you do it yourself and
it ends up getting hacked. Go for management bundled into the server from
[https://www.iozoom.com](https://www.iozoom.com) to keep your costs down.

Start an affiliate type website selling other peoples products and earn
commission. Get logo and site designed from
[https://www.fiverr.com](https://www.fiverr.com), learn about seo and online
marketing at forums like
[https://www.warriorforum.com](https://www.warriorforum.com). Once you get a
better understanding of online marketing you can promote your site for little
to no money at all.

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paytheos
I've seen a lot of smaller outstaffing companies like moonlightwork.com
offering remote employees and it's a good way to keep your costs low. The
lights will go out quickly if you get developers at $50-$100 an hour and
upwork is hit or miss and you can waste a lot of time. Toptal seems good but
not cheap. Check out intellabridge.com they have good mid-level remote
developers you can hire for $18-$20 an hour and they specialize in designing
and building MVPs.

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tedmiston
Hire slowly... don't hire until it's a real pain point and the runway for 6+
months is there.

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dyeje
Alot of startups will do consulting work while they bootstrap their product.

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sherm8n
How do you get consulting work?

~~~
Mz
That tends to be a brew your own situation comparable in difficulty to
creating a business from scratch. If you have to ask that, you will probably
be better off getting a part time job or signing up for some service to do
piece work through them (like UpWork, but preferably not actually UpWork).

