Tommy Yionoulis - Staying the Course as a Bootstrapped Startup

Tommy Yionoulis is the founder of OpsAnalitica, a SaaS platform that helps multi-unit businesses manage and measure their daily team activities for more consistent operations. In this episode, you’ll hear how Tommy went from being a “non-techie” guy working in the restaurant business and moonlighting as a standup comedian, to founding his SaaS company, OpsAnalitica. As a business owner, Tommy shares the ups and downs of bootstrapping a software startup and how he finds the motivation to keep going and not give up. You’ll learn from his experience how to leverage automation to free up your time when you don’t have a team; how to know when you should hire salespeople; and whether obtaining private equity funding is the right decision for your business.Finally, Tommy talks about how critical the support of his spouse has been to building a bootstrapped business, the development challenges specific to building a software  company, and the mindset that motivates him to keep driving forward through the hard times.If you’ve ever had times where you felt like giving up on your business, Tommy’s story will inspire you to keep going, so join our conversation!Skip to topic:4:04 - How a non-technical comedian found his way into tech5:01 - Moving into business process management 5:49 - Launching OpsAnalytica13:38 - What to consider before accepting private equity funding16:38 - Overcoming a drastic, sudden drop in sales17:33 - Generating sales as a bootstrapped SaaS company20:35 - Using business automation when you don’t have a team21:31 - Recognizing when to hire sales help23:51 - Finding the motivation to stay the course when you’re not making money25:00 - Making sense of the difficult times26:47 - 2 things that drove Tommy to keep going and not give up29:00 - The role family support played in the decision to continue with the business30:57 - The complicated nature of software development and managing expectations35:13 - What Tommy thinks is real vs. what we see out in the business world36:50 - Developing successful tech products by solving a problemFind Tommy  at:Website: http://opsanalitica.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommyyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/opsanalitica/Twitter:  https://twitter.com/OpsAnaliticaVisit Stephanie at: https://stephaniehayes.biz/Follow me on Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | TwitterSupport the show