Gleem manager
March 15, 2015
Low Funded Startup
Bootstrapping
I had returned from my travels without much money and so starting a business would have to be done on the cheap.This obviously wasn⫪t the ideal way to start a journey to a huge company, but fortunately cleaning has practically no barriers to entry - in the sense that with a bucket and a few different cleaning supplies, you⫪re pretty much set up to start!
![bootstrapping copy](https://assets-global.website-files.com/5fd1f810f64b2873ff6f19bd/601146a85314208b3b4defd8_bootstrapping-copy.jpeg)
We would spend little, work hard and bootstrap by reinvesting any profits back into the company to achieve growth.This meant decisions needed to be made carefully and frugally. I sourced cheap freelancers from other countries using www.freelancer.com, www.fiverr.com and peopleperhour.com, as well as investing hundreds of hours myself (some very inefficiently) into developing the business and the unique offering.
![freelancer-logo-color-CMYK-large](https://assets-global.website-files.com/5fd1f810f64b2873ff6f19bd/601146a828a90e4ee91f6ee5_freelancer-logo-color-CMYK-large.jpeg)
We had to start locally (Bristol), as clearly our budget didn⫪t stretch nationally, but I knew in my head and my heart that there was potential to take this idea internationally.The numbers looked solid and there is an untapped market that I estimate to be worth ��2 billion per year in the UK alone.I had a handful of logos designed from which I picked the best [attach original flyer], I continued taking any and all free business courses I could find, I started networking and I had flyers printed which I subsequently handed out myself (great exercise by the way!) .On January 6th 2014 Tidy and Shiny began operations: time to put my (limited) money (and primarily time) where my mouth is.Our website was up and running (built on the cheap by a mate), now it was time to wait for the bookings to roll in�?
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