How Bootstrappers Can Effectively Review What They’ve Tried So Far (And What to Do Next)
As a bootstrapper, you’re constantly experimenting—trying different marketing strategies, tweaking your product, and adjusting pricing. But if you’re not stopping to review what’s actually working, you risk wasting time and money on ineffective tactics.
One of the most valuable exercises you can do is ask yourself:
“What have I tried so far? What were the results?”
This simple question helps you take stock of past efforts, learn from mistakes, and double down on what’s working. But how do you go about answering it systematically?
This guide will walk you through a structured process to analyze your past efforts, extract valuable insights, and decide what to do next.
Step 1: List All Major Initiatives You’ve Tried
Start by writing down all the major things you’ve done in the key areas of your business. Don’t filter or judge them yet—just list everything.
🔹 Common Areas to Review:
✅ Marketing & Customer Acquisition – Paid ads, SEO, cold outreach, partnerships, content marketing.
✅ Sales & Pricing – Discount experiments, free trials, pricing model changes.
✅ Product & Features – New feature launches, UX improvements, onboarding changes.
✅ Operations & Efficiency – Hiring, automations, process optimizations.
💡 Example:
- Ran $500 of Facebook Ads targeting freelancers.
- Sent cold emails to 200 leads.
- Launched a freemium plan.
- Changed the homepage messaging.
- Added an onboarding email sequence.
Step 2: Analyze the Results of Each Initiative
Now, evaluate what happened as a result of each initiative.
🔹 Key Questions to Ask:
✅ Did this bring in new leads or customers?
✅ What was the actual ROI (Return on Investment)?
✅ Did users engage with the changes?
✅ Did this solve the problem it was meant to address?
✅ What unexpected outcomes happened?
💡 Example Review of Facebook Ads Campaign:
- Goal: Get more trial sign-ups.
- Cost: $500 spent.
- Result: 60 sign-ups ($8.33 per sign-up).
- Retention: Only 5% converted to paid users.
- Takeaway: High cost, low retention = NOT a scalable channel for now.
Step 3: Identify What Worked, What Didn’t, and Why
Once you’ve analyzed the results, sort your efforts into three categories:
✅ Winning Strategies – Things that worked well and should be scaled.
❌ Failed Experiments – Efforts that didn’t deliver results and should be stopped.
🔄 Needs Tweaking – Things that had some success but need improvement.
💡 Example Categorization:
✅ Winning Strategies:
- Onboarding emails increased activation by 20% → Keep improving.
- Changing homepage messaging boosted signups by 15% → Keep optimizing.
❌ Failed Experiments:
- Facebook Ads led to low retention → Pause for now and revisit later.
- Freemium model increased costs but didn’t drive paid conversions → Shut it down.
🔄 Needs Tweaking:
- Cold emails had a 5% response rate but no conversions → Test a different approach.
- SEO blog posts got traffic, but no signups → Refine content strategy.
Step 4: Decide What to Focus on Next
With clarity on what worked and what didn’t, you can now prioritize your next steps.
🔹 Guiding Principles for Moving Forward:
✅ Double down on what works – Scale your best-performing initiatives.
✅ Cut what clearly doesn’t work – Free up time and resources.
✅ Refine strategies that showed promise – Adjust based on feedback.
💡 Example Prioritized Action Plan:
🚀 Scale onboarding emails – Add more personalization and A/B test different versions.
🚀 Optimize homepage messaging – Conduct user interviews to refine it further.
🚀 Improve cold outreach – Change subject lines and personalize messages more.
Why This Exercise is So Valuable for Bootstrappers
✅ Prevents Wasting Resources – Stops you from repeating failed strategies.
✅ Turns Chaos into Clarity – Helps you see patterns and make smarter decisions.
✅ Helps You Pivot Faster – Keeps you agile in adjusting your approach.
✅ Boosts Confidence – You gain control over what’s working and why.
As a bootstrapper, your most valuable asset is your ability to learn and iterate quickly. By regularly asking, “What have I tried so far? What were the results?”, you stay focused on what truly moves your business forward.
🚀 Take Action Now
📝 Make a list of everything you’ve tried in the last 3-6 months.
📊 Analyze the results honestly—what worked, what didn’t, and why?
🎯 Prioritize your next steps based on what has the most impact.
Need help figuring out what to focus on next? Drop your challenge in the comments, and I’ll help you brainstorm your next move! 💡🔥
