Bootstrapping a new company with no bootstraps

[NotThatKindOfDoctor]

Hi everyone,

I am completely new to Mumsnet (despite already having 3 kids) but I came across an article about how its essentially, a very supportive female focused forum so I thought I would give it a try.

Very concisely, I have 3 kids (11, 9 and 5) and we are thinking about having another. We live in mainland Europe, (although we are English) in the sticks.

I was recently awarded my PhD but because of where we live, employment options are very limited. I have therefore decided to start my own company. The problem with that is that it needs some seed investment, and I have no idea where to look, and obviously the current climate doesn't feel very investment friendly.

I was wondering whether any of you have ever started your own company and have any words of wisdom/inspiration/warning, that you would be happy to pass on.

It all feels very intimidating at the moment, but I really want to get it done!

Thanks so much.

It’s hard to give advice on funding options as you aren’t in The Uk.
I sometimes mentor new businesses and startups and one of the main reasons for failure is the lack of market. If there is no market for your service/product you will fail I’m sorry to say.
If you are starting your business purely because you have no or limited job options rather than there being a real need for it then it’s unlikely to work.
However, if you have done your research and know that there IS a market either locally or remotely for your business then that’s the first step. Then you will need to look at your marketing and supply.
Once thats done and you think the business has real potential to make money then go looking for funding, if none is available you will have to put it in yourself or change your plans. Remember if it’s not a profitable business (and that includes allowing for your time) it’s a hobby, unless of course it’s only not profitable for a short time but long term it will be. If that’s the case then set a time limit to make money and if you don’t within that time then consider stopping.

Thanks so much for your reply.

I probably should have mentioned that I have already done the market research (the idea itself is based on some of my doctoral research) and a friend of mine (who used to be the CFO at Apple iTunes) has done all the financial projections for me, and they show that if the company works how we think it will (and how the market research shows it should) there is money to be made.

I think that I am going to put a time limit on me raising the initial investment myself (its a legal tech company so I need to pay for the creation of tech), and if I don't manage to get enough money to do it myself, I'll go to investors.

I just know absolutely nothing about going to investors to try and raise money so at the moment it is a very intimidating prospect.

Thanks again for your reply.

Sounds good
I have raised funds from both local and national investors here but if you aren’t UK I have no idea how you would do that
Best of luck and my other piece of advice would be that it doesn’t matter how fantastic your product is it won’t sell itself. A lot of people aren’t comfortable selling their product but if you don’t (or find someone to do it ) you won’t succeed.
I have sold software before so am happy to give some tips if you PM me (freebie obviously)

What about crowdfunding? The beauty of it is that it's also a form of market research. What better idea validation than people voting with their money? Don't know if it's a natural model for legal tech, but anything tech driven if you're not planning to create at least a working proof of concept yourself/with a technical co-founder, raises some alarm bells. Specifically the risk of wasting a lot of money to find out there's no real market. You wouldn't be the first...!