In a hyper-competitive beauty landscape, the cost of growth is always rising, and bootstrapped brands can feel outgunned by their better-capitalised peers. Going it alone can mean bigger hurdles, but bigger rewards. Raising capital from boldfaced investors can be a big milestone for founders, but bootstrapped brands have more control over their destinies. Growth for indie brands can take longer, as they have to wait until they have the profit to support new initiatives, but they also reap the