How to Grow Your Business Without Funding: Smart or Risky? (Updated 2025) -Inspired by real case studies and strategies from 6-figure bootstrappers — is going lean the smartest move you can make in 2025

 

Why “No Funding” Is Gaining Momentum in 2025

We’ve all seen the flashy headlines:

• “Startup raises $5M to build an app!”

• “New founder lands seed round before launch!”

But what if you’re not on anyone’s radar?
What if you’re just a freelancer, coach, or solo founder… trying to actually make money?

Here’s my approach:
You don’t need funding. You need a strategy

 The Rise of Bootstrapped Builder

In 2025, there’s a massive shift toward lean growth:

• 1-person businesses are scaling to $20K+ month

• Creators are launching service offers in days, not months

• Coaches and consultants are closing clients without ads or a fancy website

One standout example is Joe Todd, who went from £1.70 in his bank to $25K/month — without ads, investors, or even a personal website.

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 Why Relying on Funding Can Be Risky

Let’s be honest:

• Investors want equity

  
  
  

• Pitching takes time

• Money doesn’t fix bad systems

Even worse, many founders wait months (or years) to even start because they’re “not ready.”

Reality check: Revenue is the best funding you’ll ever get. 

 

 

What Joe Todd Did Instead

Instead of pitching investors, Joe:

1. Turned Google Drive into his website

2. Messaged 500+ qualified leads manually

3. Closed high-ticket clients through DMs

4. Used free tools to run the entire system

5. Avoided software costs until revenue was consistent

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 What You Can Do Right Now (No Budget Needed)

 1. Set Up a Simple Offer Page

Forget Wix or WordPress.
Use Google Docs or Notion to write a clear page that answers:

• What do you help people achieve?

• Who is your service for?

• What’s the transformation?

• How do they book a call?

Then share that link. It’s your “website” for now.

2. Message Prospects (Without Being Spammy)

Look for people already talking about your niche:

• X, LinkedIn, Reddit, Discord

• Facebook Groups or IG comment sections

Send warm, relevant DMs like:

“Hey [name], I saw your post about [pain point]. I help [who] solve that with [solution]. Want to chat?”

No sales pressure. Just real conversation.

 3. Use Free Tools to Automate The Rest

• Calendly – Schedule calls

• Zoom or Google Meet – Host them

• Stripe or Gumroad – Collect payments

• Google Sheets – Track everything

• Canva – Create proposals or visuals

You don’t need ClickFunnels, Kajabi, or $200/month software yet.

 

 

 

This Works For

✅ Freelancers offering design, copywriting, social media
✅ Coaches doing business, health, mindset, or productivity work
✅ Consultants in marketing, sales, HR, ops
✅ Service-based founders solving real problems

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 Smart or Risky?

 Risky if, actually is more of a waste of your time if you won't stay consistent or

• You don’t take action seriously

• You expect instant results without putting in real work

• You’re afraid of messaging people (afraid of what??-closing deals?), nothing improves without trial

Smart If:

• You want to earn and have total control over your business

• You value profitability over perfection, make sure your product/service is valuable enough for you to focus on profits and improve while growing the business 

• You’d rather build a system than burn investor cash

You don’t need:

• A logo

• A site

• A funnel

• An investor

You need clarity, strategy, consistency, and conversations.

If you want a proven roadmap, check out the new eBook How To Grow Without Funding — based on strategies from 6-figure bootstrapped founders.

 Get the full eBook + client-getting scripts and tools inside (43 pages of no-fluff strategy).