Bootstrapping In a Nutshell is a series of articles where you'll learn how to bootstrap a new online business from scratch through a real-world project.
So you want to create a new online business but don't know where to start, or especially which idea to pick? You've already read every single interview on Indie Hackers and admire all these founders out there. You wish to become one of them, some day.
Your plan is to start your business soon but you're still thinking you might miss some critical information before you take action. You want to make things right.
So you decide to read all these fresh articles. That's the last time you promise yourself. And then it's already time to go to bed and you didn't do anything today. Again.
Don't blame yourself, you're not alone.
Shut down your computer
Let's start with my most powerful advice for you: shut down your computer. I mean it. Really. Shut it down. And your smartphone too.
You can't think clearly when these attention-grabber devices are on. And what you need is an introspection. You need to talk to yourself. Without any distraction.
Grab a piece of paper and write down what you would love to do if you had free time and no financial worries during the next 2 years. Do this for 15 minutes.
Here is my list:
- Learn physics, science, 3D printing
- Teach
- Read interesting books
- Experiment stuff in physics (physical laws, chemistry, engineering)
- Write a blog about what I'm doing
- Watch movies & documentaries
- Build, create, make stuff
The purpose of this list is to merge what you love with what you'll work on. It will help you a lot to succeed to work on something related to what you love.
Turn your computer back on
Next, go straight to Indie Hackers interviews. You want to know what kind of business resonate with you. Read the tiles of all interviews.
Write down the list of businesses you would have loved to build.
Mine is:
- park.io ($15K / mo) - Allow people to backorder domain names
- Logojoy ($70K / mo) - Online logo maker by machine learning
- Site Builder Report ($44K / mo) - Website builder reviews
- SideBar ($3K / mo) - Daily Newsletter of design links
Now that you have your list, read the full interviews and extract the common points between all these businesses. For me, these common points are: it's a one-man business, it's highly automated, there is very little customer support to do and it generates a lot of revenue each month.
That will probably be totally different for you. That's ok, we all look for something different. But you know exactly what kind of business you want to build now.
Build up an idea from the ground up
So, you know what you love to do, and the kind of business you want to create. The next step is to combine all these elements with an ultimate ingredient: solving a problem.
It's extremely difficult, don't panic!
The truth is that we never get it right the first time. That's why companies pivot, why founders radically change their idea during their entrepreneurial journey.
The important point here is to work on your idea. No matter how awful it seems, it will evolve. So don't worry about it.
To prove this I'll pick one idea that may appear dumb at first but I don't care because I find it useful. It won't change the world, but that's ok. I'm here to learn.
In fact, this idea seems so dumb that it didn't receive more than 6 views on the forum!
Here is the idea I pick for my next business: I'll create a blockbuster movies newsletter. Once a week you'll receive in your inbox the list of all the new released blockbusters.
That's it!
Your idea should be easy to explain and simple to implement. For two reasons, the first one is that simplicity sells, and the second one is you can iterate fast on it.
Now I must address the #1 cause for not acting on your idea: your fear of making mistakes.
Destroy your fear of making mistakes
Here comes the most difficult part when it comes to picking your idea: you'll pick the wrong one, 100% guaranteed. There is no way you can pick a good idea.
What is a good idea anyway? It's nonsense. Ideas are neither good nor bad. They're just ideas — they're neutral. The execution is what matters. Plus your idea will change over time, remember? So don't stress about picking one.
The point is to take action. To acquire experience and learn you must act. No matter the outcome. The only difference between a successful entrepreneur and you is that you didn't take action yet. It's not a matter of intelligence or knowledge.
Let me ask you a question: do you think you can learn piano by reading books? We agree that's not possible, right? So why on earth do you think you can learn how to start an online business by reading articles?
Articles are great to help you solve specific problems. But you need to have already started something to have problems to solve! Put yourself out there, your first idea doesn't matter, that's how you learn, by doing. Period.
Take action right now
I hope this article pumped you up to make your first move: taking action. Take the time to do what we talked about here:
- Shut down your computer and smartphone.
- List all the things you'd really love to do.
- Read the interviews. What kind of business do you want to build?
- Pick an idea you want to work on!
Please, do yourself a favor: shut down your computer right now and take action.
Don't forget to turn your computer back on later to post your idea in the comments! Don't be shy — I published mine, it's awful, you can't be worse than me. I'll answer every single comment to encourage you!
ABOUT ME: I'm a 32 yo software engineer and entrepreneur. I use my free time to start new online businesses. Actually I'm learning front-end development while building an audience on twitter, follow me ;-).
NEXT ARTICLE: Ep #1: How to Select Your Domain Name for SEO
FULL ARTICLES LIST
Ep #0: How to Select Your Next Business Idea
Ep #1: How to Select Your Domain Name for SEO
Ep #2: How to Validate Your Idea by Talking to Customers
Ep #3: How to Create Your Landing Page
Ep #4: How to Set Up Google Analytics For Your Landing Page