It’s possible to bootstrap and go big

Bootstrapping is a term we know all too well as women entrepreneurs. It’s the act of  building a business from the ground up using personal savings in the early days until, with a lot of luck and a huge amount of hard work, those all important first sales come rolling in. Did you know that the term Bootstrapping has its origin in the early 19th century, meaning “to pull up by one's own bootstraps”, eventually becoming a well-used metaphor for achieving success with no outside financial support. Talk to the majority of women entrepreneurs who have built highly successful businesses and brands about how they financed them in the early days and the chances are good they will say they bootstrapped. Take the example of Sara Blakely, founder of revolutionary underwear company Spanx. At the age of 27, she launched her business with an innovative new product idea, a big vision, and funded it using all $5,000 of her personal savings. She even wrote a patent application and filed it herself to save on legal fees. Today, Sara still owns 100 percent of Spanx, her products are sold in more than 50 countries, she was named the world's youngest, self-made female billionaire by Forbes Magazine in 2012, and hasn’t taken a penny from outside investors to get there. She is proof positive that it’s possible to bootstrap and go big!