Starting a new business isn’t easy. You have a lot to think about, from how you’re going to create your product, to where you’re going to be located, to how you’ll attract customers. What makes this process even harder is when you’re operating on a tight budget. You have so many things that you want to do, but you feel like you can’t do most of them because you simply don’t have the money. If you’re strapped for cash, here are a few tips you can use to still get your business off the ground despite a low budget.
#1 – Do Plenty of Research
First, before you make any decisions, it’s important that you do plenty of research. Every penny is going to count, so you need to explore all your options before you settle on anything. For example, if you plan on having a website, you’ll need some website hosting. Rather than signing up for the first hosting service you come across, or the most popular, see what’s out there. Compare each web hosting service against one another and see which makes the most financial sense. It may only save you a few dollars in the long run, but all these savings will eventually add up.
#2 – Start Small, Then Grow Bigger
A common mistake for new businesses is trying to get too big all at once. It might be tempting to go out and get that big office space, or to purchase a branch of brand new computer equipment, but this isn’t the best path forward. Instead, start small. If this means running your business out of your basement for the time being, so be it. As you start to bring in customers, and generate more revenue, you can use this towards upgrading your business and growing bigger.
#3 – Hire the Right People the First Time Around
One of the best things you can do is hire the right people. Having the right people at your business will help it to run more efficiently and grow faster. If you hire the wrong people, not only will this slow your growth, but it could cost you in other ways. For example, if you end up needing to let this person go, that’s more money you’ll have to spend on the hiring and training process. Make sure you’re taking plenty of time to really investigate each candidate so that you end up with the best hire. For more tips on hiring your first employees, you can check out this guide.
#4 – Outsource What You Can
Next, while hiring the right people is important, sometimes you can’t afford to hire people directly. To save yourself money, you should look for things you can outsource. For example, if you want to have a blog on your website, you could outsource the content creation for it. Or you could have someone managing your social media profiles. You’ll still want to vet these people before you hire them, but you can save a lot of money by hiring freelancers or other companies and allowing them to do work for you. This also comes with the added bonus of freeing you up to focus on more important things.
Other Ways to Save on Your New Business
The above tips should give you a good start, but there are other small ways you can save money. For example, if you need supplies or equipment, you can try finding these used. You could go to local garage sales to find some used office equipment, or use a site like http://www.machinerynetwork.com/ to find used machinery if you need to.
You’ll also likely need some software for your company. Look for products that offer a free version or for open-source software. Think about what your needs really are when you’re just starting out, and make sure you get packages that reflect this.
If you’re going to have an office space, try to make it as small as you can. Give employees the option of working from home so you can have a smaller space and save money on rent. Or, rather than having a permanent store location, consider opening up pop-up shops in different areas of town.
There are plenty of ways to save money when starting a business, you just have to look for them. You may not like cutting corners or going with used items, but when you’re first starting out this may be your only option. Plenty of successful businesses started in a garage or with borrowed equipment, so yours can too. Hopefully with this guide you’re able to find some ways to operate your new business on a tight budget, and it won’t be long before you grow past it and onto better things.