Consulting on the side isn&#x27;t bootstrapping. Bootstrapping is funding your business development with revenue <i>from that business</i>. Bootstrapping a startup, keep in mind that a startup is a business designed to grow very fast, is very, very difficult, requiring a certain kind of consumer-facing business model.<p>Consulting on the side is a time sink that takes resources away from your enterprise. That&#x27;s all but incompatible with growing fast.<p>There are plenty of other kinds of businesses you can bootstrap. But startups are particularly hard, which is why so many of them rely on venture funding.