Have you heard about OPM? It’s mostly known as the abbreviation of Other People’s Money. But According to Daymond John, it can be anything: Other People’s Manufacturing, Other People’s Mind Power, Other People’s Marketing, etc.
The idea is that you can practically outsource your whole business operation – without even spending a dime; even when you’re broke. By redefining your definition of OPM, your options are suddenly becoming limitless.
Daymond John, a prolific entrepreneur who’s known for his clothing & apparel company FUBU and his involvement as one of the sharks in Shark Tank TV series, was turned down by banks multiple times in his early days. If you are an entrepreneur, you know how hard it is to get funding. So, what are you going to do?
Daymond John: You can start a business with zero investment
Here’s what Mr. John did back then:
Trying to get his apparel startup off the ground without proper funding from the banks, Daymond John looks to use a different type of OPM: Other People’s Manufacturing.
So, he went to a screen print company (the company that FUBU was using in the early days.) The company makes FUBU products for about $6 a piece. With no cash available for kicking off the production, he approached the company and made the following deal: Instead of $6 each, Mr. John offered $8 each for the screen-print company, not only to make his products, but also to deliver them directly to a retailer.
But that’s just the first part of the strategy; you need the second part to make everything works – so, what did Mr. John do? He approached the retailer and told the decision maker that he didn’t actually make the product – so he introduced him to the screen print company, and persuaded the retailer guy to pay directly to the screen print company.
Magic, right?
Now check this out: Unlike getting investments from VCs, in which you give up a percentage of your company to the investors. Mr. John give zero, zip, zilch, nada out of his company ownership to make the business wheels turning; he uses the power of strategy, networking and persuasion to make things work – and of course, the OPMs = in this case, Other People’s Manufacturing and Other People’s Marketing.
Of course, there are other creative ways to get your startup launched with nothing down – i.e. crowdfunding to launch your startup, dropshipping for your online retail store, hiring freelancers to create magic for your clients (content marketing, app development, etc.) – the list can go on and on, and guess what, those ideas can make you money with nothing down AND without giving away a percentage of your company ownership.
Last words of advice from Mr. John’s video: You need to learn how to do those right; position yourself as someone who’s capable of making the magic happen. Whenever you’re ready, you can start taking on the challenge.
Now over to you: Have you ever use OPMs and bootstrap your way to entrepreneurial success? If so, please share your tips with us!
