In business, we say, “The customer always comes first.”
The reality today is that stakeholders come first. Most large companies answer to investors, banks, and the Board. The customer has become the user – a number on the wall.
But there is an exception: the independent, self-funded business. The company that was built on little more than a vision.
This business might not be the first result in your Google search. It’s not the company sponsoring your favorite podcast. Rather, it’s the one we learn about by word of mouth in our circle of friends. It’s the one with its CEO prepping for a pitch one moment and handling customer support the next.
This is the growing business that, not long ago, was just one person’s pipe dream, maybe your dream. Of all the ways to start a company – applying for a business loan, crowdfunding, seeking venture capital – this was not the safe bet. Bootstrapping your business puts your future at risk. You and your team work on the faith that this will one day pay off. Sometimes, it doesn’t.
To launch a self-funded business is a success on its own. To stay in business? That’s a point of pride.
By supporting an independent business, you support a company that answers to its customers, a company that makes business personal, a company that wants to see its community thrive. Your request won’t go into an automated workflow. Your comment will be taken seriously. And your feedback will likely turn into a feature. The numbers are important to a self-funded business, but so are the names.
And as an independent and bootstrapped business, we own our story with pride.
If you would like to tell your own story by creating an independent page on your site, Semplice would be happy to let you use their copy and badge.
Inspired by Semplice.