essence
Entrepreneurs who have successfully navigated the mass retail market without relying on venture capital shared their journeys at Essence Festival’s Soko Mrkt panel, “Bootstrapping Your Business,” moderated by New Voices VP Chisome A’Marie. Recognizing the benefits and challenges of bootstrapping their businesses, three speakers shared their startup strategies: Mona Lisa Crossway of Vanity Tools, Kimberly Evans of Just Her Ride Share, and Kitiya King of Mischo Beauty.
To maintain control of the business and avoid the complexities of outside financing, founders shared their experiences launching their businesses using personal savings, funds from their day jobs, and other available resources. “I used the funds closest to me, which was my own money; my nine-to-five hours, my tax returns, whatever I had available,” King said. King’s non-toxic, vegan nail polish brand, Misho Beauty, is now sold in 237 stores.
Despite being a fourth-generation entrepreneur, Kimberly Evans believed that bootstrapping was the way forward. [investors] “You raise venture capital and you get checks for millions of dollars. When I started, I barely knew what a cap table was,” she recalls. Her approach was to test her business, Her Ride Share, with no strings attached. “Once you start raising venture capital, you’re no longer the CEO of the company, you’re the steward of someone else’s money,” she notes. “So I thought bootstrapping was the best way to maintain control and see real growth.”
Although self-funding gave the panelists autonomy and control over their business, it also came with the issue of slower growth due to limited funding. King noted that there was a trade-off of growing slower because they relied on personal resources and freelance support rather than external funding. Crossway also noted that funding product development solely with personal savings affected the pace of expansion. “With bootstraps, you’re not going to get as fast as you want to,” Crossway said, emphasizing the need to leverage partnerships to ease the financial constraints of expansion.
“We couldn’t do this and we can’t make it happen without the people in the community,” Evans said, acknowledging that without his network, his business wouldn’t be here today. “I crowdfunded to get here. I reached out to my peers and said, ‘Listen, I need to be there. I need to be in this space,’ and they said, ‘You guys can do it,’ and that’s why I’m here today.”
King agreed, adding, “I also started a crowdfunding campaign. My network, community, family and friends supported me and that was so important in keeping the business going.”
