Buying & Selling Bootstrapped Micro Businesses. Why Do it? And Why Buy in an Online Marketplace?
It’s probably better to ask, “Why Shouldn’t You Do It.”
The internet is alive and well with aspiration traps of entrepreneur culture and how to go from zero to hell yes in no time at all. Sure, there are outlier cases of right place, right time, right artificial PR-fueled brands that get their ‘trending’ moment, but the cold truth, friends, is that most of you won’t be walking any red carpets any time soon.
Still, you can make big things happen and make a pretty penny while you’re at it. Besides, you hate to flash photography and people asking you stupid questions. If you’re going to strike digital oil buying and growing online hustles, you’ll be too busy being smug to yourself to go to the award ceremonies.
Flipping side projects can be a lot of fun — but you’ve gotta want it and you’ve got to earn it. It ain’t no paper round and you will feel like hitting ctrl+alt+delete half the time, so don’t kid yourself. Grit your teeth, make sure your basic game is tight and you might just beat it and unlock all the perks.
It’s a Viable End Game & Exit Strategy.
As though there weren’t enough reasons to punch the nine-to-five grind in the face before, the case just got stronger with entire sectors facing disruption and widespread desk clearing.
If you’re reading this in 2035, ask your folks about the Rona and the toilet roll wars of late 2020. If they haven’t told you yet, you’re probably not ready to hear it. Time travel banter aside, the worldwide clusterfuck that went viral in the 1st half of 2020 has put a spanner in the works for… pretty much everything. Besides the online.
Despite the global BSoD that’s hit many and caused real grief to gig economies, there are increasing opportunities to spot a nifty spend on side projects that could take root and turn into your Rona insurance and future occupation as a bootstrapper.
SaaS, e-commerce and blogging, show no symptoms of slowdown and there are a lot of folks with a lot of time to build new and shiny things that could go big in the right hands. Side projects build your XP and let you access new options further down the road.
You’re a Better Maker Than You Think.
Without claiming to have run the beta test, you might say solopreneurs differ in what makes them tick compared to their soft top-and-shades entrepreneur counterparts.
Their thirst for front-end limelight brings an audience gaze that can fuel self-belief. The only person you’re pleasing is yourself. Your obsession with detail and working clean makes you self critical; you forget to recognize how strong your game is already.
You might not have the moves to scale yet, but you need not buy the big first time. The scale will come when you flex the muscle you have and buy low-risk to spar inside projects not yet in profit.
Stick to the green slopes of side projects that show promise but need a little love and attention, and you’ll map out all the bumps in the road that you’ll need to learn to navigate to go big with riskier, guns-blazing-profit buys.
Buying & Selling Online Simplifies Everything.
Why are brokers called brokers?
Because that’s what their fees will make you — broke.
Of course, we jest. There are good brokers and there are slippery ones. Whether you work with one or not is your call. If you want to cut your admin and lean into fewer potential headaches, buying online can save a lot of perspiration. Makers with savvy ambition already know they’d rather laugh off VC funding mele. You don’t trust others to do important shit. So why create more processes?
For those with solopreneurial ambition, getting access to buyers, finding projects to research, sale negotiations, IP handover and due dil can all happen in a single place — buying side projects in online marketplaces centralize and integrates things.
The variety of Rona-proof online hustles is staggering and the potential to start piling up decent side pots of passive income is seriously there. Don’t get cocky though. Browsing side projects to grow via online sites can remove much of the ‘no thanks’ crap, but it does mean you’ll need to be self-sufficient so make sure you’ve got a rock-solid understanding of the niche you want to move in otherwise you’re going to piss people off and run on the spot.
