10 new "unicorns" in India in 2021, 6 in last 6 days.

I've never been able to grasp why huge loss-making businesses are celebrated & made heroes.

So for those who want to build a profitable business, here are 8 lessons from bootstrapping my startup to $1mn revenue in 4 years

1/ Don't quit your full-time job yet.

Not sure when & whether to start up?

Do this:
• Start a blog or newsletter
• Build a following on social media or a niche community
• Create an MVP on the side

The 'all or nothing' strategy is needlessly high risk.

2/ Earning the first $ is the toughest, it only gets better

My journey of bootstrapping Flexiple (Revenue):
Year 1 - $0
Year 2 - $50,000
Year 3 - $400,000
Year 4 - $1 million

3/ Work hard to make your first $, worry about scale later.

Here's a few things we did to land & close our 1st client:
• Cold calling & messaging on LinkedIn
• Asking everyone in our extended network for referral
• Contract discussions with client's legal team

4/ Marketing isn't cheap, find smart ways to do it

Things you can do with a $0 budget:
• Guest posts
• Newsletter
• SEO focused blogs
• Building backlinks to your website
• Launching on free platforms
• Submitting to startup directories
• Building audience on social media

5/ Build an audience before you build a product.

• Talk about the problem
• Share your personal experience
• Debate existing solutions
• Share how you would solve it

Channels:
• Social media
• Blog
• Newsletter
• Community websites
• Slack channels
• LI & FB groups

6/ You can't do everything by yourself, hire great people & let them do their thing.

You need people in your team who are dependable & good at problem-solving.

Once you hire, trust that they will do good work. You will never have time to micro-manage, neither is it efficient.

7/ You're always short of talent & you're always hiring.

Every startup, funded or non-funded, wants great people in their team, so there's literally a war for talent.

Play smart:
• Hire remotely & globally
• Hire contractors
• Hire part-timers (experts)

8/ Building your startup is a marathon, not a sprint.

Rushing to reach high revenue or burning out in the first few months will do much more harm than good.