A commonly accepted meaning for “bootstrapping your business” involves building a business from scratch without investors or with minimal external capital.
But opening your business without external investment only scratches the surface. For example, bootstrapping also encompasses all that it takes to get the word out about your business.
Marketing without an advertising budget is true bootstrapping. Today we have the luxury of social media, and it certainly can have a huge impact when marketing a new business venture.
However, if you’re in a service industry such as mine, it often won’t reach your target market. And honestly, in 2003 when I started my company, there were no platforms on which to advertise.