- 2 days ago
Are you an aspiring entrepreneur looking to launch your own venture without external funding? Join us for an engaging session on "Bootstrapping Your Business" where you'll learn essential strategies and tactics to start and grow your company using minimal resources.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Made it to almost the end of the day. I know I see, I see the little glaze over in your eyes.
00:05It's okay. We're hanging in there. We have a very exciting next panel for you. So I don't know if
00:11you're an entrepreneur or an inspiring entrepreneur, but I know we all know what investment is and what
00:16investors are. And entrepreneurs, we put a lot into our businesses from time, sweat, tears, and money.
00:23But if you ever want to start a business, you might want to do it without external capital. Maybe you
00:30don't want investors. Maybe you want to do something called bootstrapping. So we have a session coming up
00:36where you'll learn more about what that is and some strategies on how to do it and protect your
00:42business. So coming up on the stage, we have our amazing, again, our amazing moderator, Chisholm
00:49Amarie with New Voices, New Voices Fund. Come on up. And then some amazing founders. So make sure
00:55y'all make some noise for these founders. We have Kytea King, Michele Beauty. We have Mona Lisa
01:03Crossway of Vanity Tools. And Kimberly Evans, just her ride share. All right, enjoy your panel. Stay tuned.
01:16Thank you. Thank you. Hi, everyone. Really excited about this panel.
01:19This discussion. So we're talking about bootstrapping your business. And just so we level set here,
01:25bootstrapping is essentially, let's say you're starting your business. You don't have any external
01:29funding, any money from people other than yourself, essentially, or trying to find ways. It can be
01:34some others, but we'll talk about the journey a bit. So I'm going to have these wonderful ladies
01:38introduce themselves and a little bit about their businesses so that you can get to know them.
01:42Kytea. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Kytea King. I'm the founder of Michele Beauty.
01:48We are clean, vegan, and cruelty-free beauty for the clean beauty lovers. We're based out of
01:54Washington, D.C. My business just turned 10 this year. The reason why I started the business is
02:02because I was searching for clean nail polish while I was pregnant and I couldn't find it. So I decided
02:10to take matters into my own hands. I have a degree in chemistry and I'm also a licensed beauty
02:14professional. And so I created what I couldn't find. And that was my hero product, which is a nail
02:21polish. It is available on our website. We are in stores across the country, 13 Loon, JCPenney,
02:29Anthropologie, Macy's, and Amazon. Thank you. Mona Lisa? Hello, everyone. I'm Mona Lisa Crossway,
02:38founder of Vanity Tools. And my hero product is the Vanity Hood. Out of frustration of getting makeup
02:44transferred onto my clothing, I came up with the Vanity Hood to prevent that problem. And in beauty,
02:50it's such a white space. You buy all of this product, but there is no product on the shelves
02:55to prevent this issue from happening. I'm currently in 237 stores across the country. Thank you. With an
03:03exclusive collab with Hot Topic. And I'm currently in talks with other retailers. And I'm just happy to
03:10be here. And thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Kimberly. Hello, everyone. First of all, let me just say
03:15thank you to New Voices for this opportunity. It is my first time in New Orleans and my first time
03:20at Essence Fest. And so I'm so delighted to be here. I'm Kimberly Evans, founder and CEO of Just Her
03:27Rideshare. We are a women-centric rideshare company where safety, comfort, and community ride together.
03:34So just think of an Uber and Lyft, except we're building community with women drivers and riders.
03:40We're based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and we have a presence in six cities in North and South
03:45Carolina. And I'm delighted to be here with you today. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. All right.
03:52So first question here. So you guys all started your own businesses. I'm sure you're addressing a
03:57need. Did you initially think that you would use your own capital? How was the thought process and
04:02what made you decide to bootstrap your business? Let's start with you, Katia.
04:06I did think that I would use my own capital. I was not familiar with venture capital. I thought
04:15venture capital 10 years ago was just for tech startups and tech companies. And so I decided
04:24to take matters into my own hands and I used the funding that was nearest to me, which was my own
04:32money. Um, and so that's how I got started. And so I was taking money from my nine to five. I've had
04:38loans, um, credit advances, um, tax returns, whatever I had access to my savings. That's what I used to
04:50get started. That's great. What about you, Malin? Uh, same here. Once I came up with the concept and I was
04:58like, wait, I think I'm onto something. Then it just started like dipping into my savings, tax refunds,
05:05um, any money that was available to me, 401ks. Uh, so, but in the beginning, it was like tough
05:12understanding exactly where to allocate those funds. But over time you start understanding
05:17exactly what to do with the money. But yes, I just started going into my savings.
05:21Yeah. So I'm a fourth generation entrepreneur, business owner of over 30 plus years. So I just
05:28thought that was the way you did it. I did not know you could go to particularly white men and
05:33have them write you million dollar checks. Yes. I barely even knew what a cap table was when I
05:38started. So I just bootstrapped, uh, because I wanted to make sure that we had a product market fit.
05:44I also wanted to make sure that women really wanted what we were offering. And so I thought,
05:48let me just test it first. No strings attached, you know, because when you start to take venture
05:54capital money, you no longer are CEO of your company, but you become a manager of other people's
05:59money. And so I thought it was the best way to go. Yeah. Yeah. No, that makes sense. And I can
06:04imagine when you're using your own money, there's limited resources. And so how did you guys think
06:09about minimizing the cost? Were there any trade-offs for bootstrapping? Did it prevent you from growing
06:15as quickly as you want? Or was it actually at a more measured, um, approach? So why don't you want
06:20your thoughts? Maybe I'll start with you Mona Lisa. Well, I will say this, you're not going to go
06:26as fast as you think you're going to go with bootstrapping. But what I found was leveraging
06:31partnerships with other people that can assist in certain things. Um, one thing that I did was
06:37partner with my manufacturing company. So in terms of like things, just in terms of like logistics,
06:42just getting your products to the retailers, product development, having the money for these
06:49purchase orders. So partnering with my manufacturing company that helped tremendously. So in that sense,
06:55I was able to move a little bit swifter, but yeah, it took time to like leverage those different,
07:01um, partnerships. Yeah. What about you? Any misconceptions? Yeah. I think you have to know
07:06what you want from your business. If you are creating a legacy business and you have no intention
07:12on taking venture dollars, uh, you just have to know because at some point, if you want to scale,
07:18you're going to have to think about those things. But we bartered, we partnered with people. I
07:23connected with the universities and we pulled data analytics, uh, analysts from them. We used interns.
07:30We did whatever we needed to do to move, uh, the needle forward. But I will tell you, it went, uh, much
07:36slower. Had we had the $700,000 that we're raising now, we could have scaled quicker. So there are some
07:43upsides to it. If you want to build legacy, uh, and hold onto your company, if you're building with
07:49an exit strategy and you want to take venture dollars, you're going to need it to scale and
07:54to scale quickly. So, but I think bootstrapping is the best way to go when you're figuring all of
08:00that out. Do you have anything to add? I would see the trade-off for me was, has been the speed
08:06of growth because I didn't have that external funding and I was relying on myself. I wasn't
08:11able to build a team to support me, to grow the business as fast as I wanted to. A lot of things,
08:18first couple of years I had to do myself or I had freelancers, contractors, but definitely the
08:24trade-off for me was the speed of growth. Yeah. And when you're bootstrapping, do you find
08:30that networking or building relationships is beneficial to you? And if so, how did you
08:34guys take advantage of that? Maybe we'll start with you. I always say networking is key. I'm
08:41not here today if it's not for networking. Um, getting up, getting out, getting in the rooms
08:46with the people that have already done this, hearing the different gems that someone may
08:51drop on you, mentorships, networking is so important. For some people they can do it maybe
08:58behind the computer. Me, I have to get out there and just explore. So I would say you're
09:04right now in a room like this, network. Listen to different founders. Everyone has advice
09:11to give. So networking is key. Yeah. I agree. I mean, for me, it's my community. Like I always
09:17say, if we shut down today, the journey to building communities and meeting people and growing
09:23with people has been worth it all. But I want to go a little step further. Networking,
09:27you know, they said there could be five people in your network that could determine your net
09:31worth. Yes. Um, I am challenging social capital to go a step further because it's one thing
09:38to have access to rooms. It's one thing to have a seat at the table, but then it's proximity
09:44to who you're sitting next to because everybody in the room is not going to be your person. It's what
09:50you do is not going to be their jam. So, but it's been so phenomenal. We need it. We cannot
09:56do it without people and community. So I would challenge all of us to look at, you know, showing
10:02up for people and following through, which is so important. But I don't know, I wouldn't be here today
10:08had it not been for my network. I crowdfunded to get here today because my, I called my people and
10:16I said, listen, I need to be there. I need to be in the space. And they said, we've got you. And
10:21that's why I'm here today. That's amazing. I have to piggyback on that, especially the crowdfunding
10:26campaign. I also launched a crowdfunding campaign and my network, my community, my family, my friends,
10:35they showed up for me. Um, and it was key for keeping the business going. That's amazing.
10:40No, great, great, great. Um, can you guys share an example of when you had to get creative because
10:46you had a limited budget? Well, how do you think about this? How do you stretch that dollar a little
10:51bit further? If any, any of you guys can go. I'll jump in there. Listen, they always say the worst
10:59thing you can do is work in your company and on your company at the same time. I've had to do it though.
11:04I don't have a choice. So I've had to be creative. So I have been interviewed on a news station
11:11and hopped in my car and picked up an 81 year old and she couldn't believe that she was in the car
11:17with the CEO of the company. So I've had to do it all. I mean, we just have to do,
11:22we're a revenue sensitive company. We're raising a pre-seed round. We don't have a choice. So we have
11:27to be creative and strategic and we just have to get it done. And so that, that means partnering with
11:33people, bartering with people, doing all kinds of things. It's just what we have to do.
11:40I'd have to agree. I mean, I've worn every hat in my company. So, you know, I'm the CEO,
11:46I'm the salesperson. So I'm going out and I'm meeting with buyers. I've also been fulfillment.
11:52So packing orders and shipping them. I've basically held every title within my company
11:59and I've made it work. I've had to make it work. So that's good. No, that's good.
12:04Yes.
12:05No, I love that. And that's, that's really helpful. So if you guys would look back at your journey,
12:10let's say you could do this all over again, start your businesses all over again, go back 10 years.
12:15Would you still bootstrap? What would you do differently? Or what would you do the same?
12:18I would, before I start the www.com, the website, I would educate myself a lot more in the beauty
12:29industry. My previous life, I come from a different space. I would have done that. And I just feel like
12:36just understanding the community, like building community. I think in the beginning when I started
12:44my business, it was like, Oh, I just want to get on the shelves. And I just focused on that,
12:49but not necessarily building that community. And then over time, things have changed drastically.
12:55So the community is what you need. So I would say education, number one, building community as well.
13:03Okay. Um, I would not do anything different. Um, I think for me, uh, I would, because it's, it's everything
13:13that I've learned along the way that it has gotten me here. You know, my husband asked me recently,
13:18if you had had a million dollars three years ago, where do you think you would be? And I said, probably
13:23out of money. And now we bootstrapped and we've gotten to this point to where we're really, really
13:28ready to scale. But it was all of those lessons. And I would have to say for me, it was to trust
13:34myself because I was very indecisive about making decisions and bringing people into our team because
13:40I knew it wasn't just me, but I had things were going to impact my team, but I would just trust
13:46myself more, uh, because God is with me. And he told me just make the decision. If it's not a good
13:53decision, you will recover because I'm with you. And so that's what I would, I would just do
13:58different. I would trust myself even sooner than I did. Trust yourself. What about you?
14:03I would have tried to build a team. It was very, very hard starting out. And when I started,
14:11I had a two year old, I don't even know. Sometimes I'm like, I don't even know how I've gotten
14:17this far. It's just mind blowing. But I would have tried to raise money and maybe that money
14:24would have been from family and friends first before seeking institutional funding, but I would
14:32have tried to raise money. So I could have paid people to help me build from the beginning.
14:37Not to say that I'm not grateful for how far I've come. Thank you, God. Um, but it has not been easy.
14:44It's, it's been the rollercoaster ride of my life, but I am grateful for where I am. Yeah. No, that's
14:51great. That's really helpful. And I know we've been talking about bootstrapping. You guys mentioned
14:55a little bit before that's tapping into your savings, using some of your nine to five, but what
14:59are other things include bootstrapping? Is that also grants? Is that crowdfunding? And do you have
15:04any tips for folks if they're going to try those avenues? Who would like to? Yeah. So we've done
15:10it all. So we've crowdfunded. We have a crowdfunding campaign going on now on WeFunder that we're
15:16doing a TDW test the waters. Um, we have, we've done what we call friends and family. We never had
15:24the friends or the family, but we did the best that we could. I'm so grateful for those small
15:29investments, but we've won pitch competitions. We recently just won one where we're going to be
15:35pitching in San Diego coming up. We've, uh, won grants and things like that. So there are a lot
15:40of opportunities out there as black founders in general, in particular women, black founders,
15:45we're all competing for the same things, but there are other ways to do it through other methods of
15:51funding like that. That's helpful. Okay. All right. So we're wrapping up here. Um, just wondering if you
15:58guys have any advice to inspiring entrepreneurs as they're considering to bootstrap. I know we talked
16:05a little bit about what we did before, but maybe some strategic are, these are kind of the steps you
16:09should take any advice you have that you could share with the folks here.
16:15Well, number one, I would say definitely believe in yourself. If you don't believe in it, nobody else
16:20will. Um, I will say half of what I've done is just me being so passionate and believing in my vision
16:27that once I am in the room with someone else that can, you know, maybe help the brand,
16:32they're like, wow, you know what? I may not, I'm a man. I may not understand this whole vanity hood
16:37thing, but because the way you speak about it, let me go talk to my wife. Oh, she loves this,
16:42but it's the passion that I have for the brand. And I know that just sounds so cliche. You gotta
16:46believe in yourself. But it's, it's so true. Um, definitely believe in yourself, network,
16:54whatever. It's just, I can go on and on for days, but I meet so many founders. I meet so many people
16:59with ideas and they don't move forward for whatever reason. And I'm just one of those people,
17:05like, I'm going to keep going no matter what. There's like no obstacle that can get in front
17:08of me. That's going to stop me. So constantly, you're going to have your up days, your down days.
17:14I, I live in the moment of, okay, this may have not been the best day, but the next day I am not
17:19feeling the same way I did before. That's in the past. Move forward. Because I really believe in my
17:24vision. That's great. That's great. Um, I would say, uh, put your big girl panties on.
17:30Yes. Strap in because it's not easy. Entrepreneurship, you really have to be cut from a different
17:36cloth. Uh, but you can do it, go after your dreams. Um, if it doesn't work, pivot and do
17:42something different. We all have the gifts within us. Um, if I were to leave one piece of advice,
17:48I would say, if you have a product, if you have a service, do the work. It doesn't cost anything
17:53to do the work, the research, find out who your customers are. Customer discovery, customer discovery,
18:00do it all the time because everybody is not going to be your customer. So once you have your product
18:06market fit, you're solving a problem, just go hard. You can do it. Awesome. Just get started.
18:14Most people stop. Yes. Before they even start. They overthink it. They overanalyze it. They want
18:20to research it for a million years. Just get started. Keep going. I always believed in my heart of hearts
18:29that I could do this and I wasn't willing to stop. So that's amazing. So before we go,
18:37where can the audience follow you guys, get your products? Do you guys have any booths here?
18:42Let the audience know. Let's start with you. So download the app, no matter where you are in the
18:47city, uh, in the country, uh, get on our waiting list because it's your traction. That's going to get
18:53us to the next city. Uh, but you can follow us on all social media platforms. If you're on LinkedIn,
18:58that's kind of our place, kind of a grownup place for me. Uh, but you can follow us on social media
19:04at just her ride and yeah, let us know what you think about what we're doing.
19:08Um, everyone, you can follow us on Instagram at, I don't see your phones out, at my vanity tools.
19:19So that's M Y V A N I T Y tools with an S. Um, of course you can find a product on the website
19:27at my vanity tools.com. And I'm currently in 237 stores with hot topic. So check out your local
19:35mall and you can also find a vanity hoods there. Awesome. So we are, you can find us at
19:40michellebeauty.com. We are at michellebeauty on every social media platform. We are online
19:47at macy's.com, anthropology.com. You can find us in store on shelves in 413 Loon, JCPenney locations
19:58throughout the country. Um, and we're on Amazon as well. So tell a friend to tell a friend to
20:03tell a friend. And can you just spell michelle so that they know how to spell it? Michelle
20:07is M I S C H O beauty. Awesome. Can you please help me to give a round of applause to the panelists
20:15and thank them for their time. Thank you everyone. Thank you all so much.
Comments