Minimalism saved my mind and became the first investor of my startup
Where all began
Have you ever listed how many things you already have at home? I never did it before, but on the move I did one year ago I expected to fill 15 package boxes for everything I had, and to my surprise, finally we needed 32. Just the double. How could this be?
A move is the perfect time to really see how many belongings we have. Of course you have daily items or clothes you can remember you have, but there are so many other items you totally ignore through the years. So when you move, things that you have forgotten just appear and may be you have not used them for years. If you are a digital nomad you have more often the chance to review the things you carry with you, but if you live for years in the same place as I have (although I’ve been to different flats) is much easier that you just simply start storing things up.
It’s funny because I had always thought that I had a kind of “zen” lifestyle. I had the principle that if I bring something new home I had to get rid of something old. Normally I did so but sometimes I didn’t and so, after a few years, I realized that my possessions had been doubled.
The burden of things doesn’t bring joy to your life
From the very first day Mike and I moved to our new flat I felt I didn’t need all those things I had. Our new flat is an open space so it was easy to clearly see all the things we had. I had many of them before living together, so I realized it was time to think about my material life which I started feeling as a heavy burden. For me the signal is when you don’t know what to do with an item. Why are we still keeping it? Just in case?
Because of that answer we’re still keeping things just in case. And the truth is that if you have not used that nice jumper in the last year or two, you might not need it. I started searching for tips or reflections about how to declutter your home. That’s how I found inspiring people who talked about minimalism as a way of life. A good reference for me has been Marie Kondo and The Minimalists. I hope they will be useful for you too, if you don’t know them yet. Marie Kondo has a very practical and funny method to organize things, and the most important tip I kept from her was to really think about what kind of feeling brings to you every item you own, in order to be surrounded with the things that bring joy to your life. For her it’s not so important how many things you have, but what you keep is really inspiring for you. According to this idea, Joshua Fields and Ryan Nicodemus, (The Minimalists) often clarify that becoming a minimalist is not to have a particular number of minimum objects, but to have the things you really need and bring value to your life, which means questioning our way of consuming things in our every day life. And in both cases there is the common idea of “simplify”.
I’m talking about minimalism being an aesthetic lover myself. To me fashion and interior design are an important (material) way to express ourselves. As a matter of fact, to me it’s been always important to feel my clothes or my home decor according to my inner state, as a tool to create an atmosphere that helps us feel better, to improve or relax. The good news is that if you are also a person who cares about this you can also be a minimalist. This mindset does not just apply to material things, but also to energy, relationship or even time.
Launching my own startup changed priorities
We know sometimes that all the new things in your life come together at the same time. In my case, we moved home at the same time we were launching Otter. What a party!
Since then my priorities have been changing. During the past year I’ve been learning more than ever about being responsible of my own time and energy, and discovering what kind of work-life balance I feel good with. Having a minimalism mindset also helped, being very conscious about where, what and who I spend my time with. It helps you to be more focused and not feel being driven by a flow you can’t control. It’s a daily exercise based on reviewing yourself and learning to choose with a purpose.
After one year, having changed some habits according to this approach, it’s much easier for me to be aware of myself. And little by little, as I let go items I don’t need, I have more time and mental space to be able to focus on the things I care most.
Jenny Mustard (YouTuber, fashion & food blogger) makes in this 3’ video a very easy and nice explanation about what minimalism is for her and she sums up with those quite good reflections.
Some money back and less things to care about
I used Wallapop before we moved to sell a few clothing items and some furniture. It’s a very popular app, an online flea market where you are geolocalized and you can connect with people nearby. I had already a profile and I knew how well this app worked when you want to sell privately. So when I felt these objects invasion after our move I started uploading all decoration items and clothes that I couldn’t find a new place for them or that I had not been using for the past year or two.
I see that the apps as Wallapop are a fantastic tool we have to let the things we don’t use in other hands that need them, and also to get some money back. It’s a great deal! You can do that for free and you become your own shop. Most of the experience I have had through Wallapop has been very positive. I’ve met interesting people, and also clients for Otter as some of them often came home and became interested in the special furniture made by a carpenter we had.
To help you figure out how I’ve been decluttering my life I will give you some KPIs. Until today I have sold almost 200 items. That’s the way I did it:
- 109 items in Wallapop.
- 64 items trough a couple of home events for friends and also going to public flea markets.
- 15 donations
The economical impact of these salling-hobby I had specially in the past year has been 3,503€. I think it’s difficult to say if this is a lot or not, as the perception can be relative depending on who or what is the reference for you. To me the best way is to turn it into relative figures and be able to say that, in my case, it has been enough to cover all the advertising investment we did for Otter and also to pay my monthly fee for the coworking space MOB, as well as other subscriptions as Google Apps or Iconosquare. Or I can also consider this figure as the amount of almost three months of my old salary. I still have 75 items for sale and if I sell them full price I will get another 1,400€. I’m amazed at seeing how things I didn’t need are giving me economic support.
Nobody said bootstrapping your startup should be easy. In fact, very often I find myself trying to think about how long I should be doing that without investors financing it. Thanks to our lean approach, we have been able to earn money and time. However, in the startup ecosystem, looking for an investor seems the natural step you have to look for. And of course, raising money is something great for your business, but in my opinion, it’s more important to do it in the right moment.
As we prefer to keep bootstrapping our project so far, to get this money back has been a relief and a little-big investment in our project.
Declutter your life and make space for great ideas
As everything in life, there is not a unique true or “magic tip”. As the original individuals we are, there is also an original solution for anyone of us which fits best. You can get lost reading articles or listening to podcasts about tips for everything. As I see it, the best thing to do with all this information we thankfully have, is to listen first and then adapt it to your own way.
It’s being a great experience to see the impact in my life by questioning myself what brings value or doesn’t. And not only in the economy aspect, but also as a way to create more space at home and in my mind. When you create space in your life in all senses, you can feel more energy, mental clarity and focus. I’m really enjoying this new mindset, and I hope that with these thoughts you can also find some inspiration.
