Every wannabe-startup-founder is faced with the same gross rain cloud: money. It’s not so much wishing you had more or losing sleep because you haven’t got enough or anything like that (although those thoughts can creep into your frontal lobe at any moment). No. It’s more about making what you do have stretch further and knowing how to cut the costs you are faced with. That’s the rain cloud you need to shoo-away. It’s all that worry that you’re need being money-savvy enough to help your startup survive and thrive.
So, to be that guardian angel you’ve been hoping for, we’ve pulled together a few pointers that every wannabe-startup-founder should know about and use to their advantage. And with that said, all we can do now is wish you luck!
- Go Organic
As you’re well aware, it’s not the business product or business that becomes most successful, it’s the one that markets themselves the best. But that doesn’t mean you have to cough up bags full of cash in paid advertising on Facebook and Google and LinkedIn and whatnot. In fact, we advise against it because you might find your base of growth becomes unstable. Instead, go down the organic route. Embrace content marketing, link-building, good branding and networking. It works wonders.
- Do Things By Half
The old adage says the opposite, but we recommend you ignore that archaic nonsense and do things by half where you can. If you are an advertising company, try hiring a freelance creative copywriter instead employing someone full-time. If you’ve seen a gap in the haulage game, look at this link about leasing a truck instead of buying one. If you need to have an office space, go down the shared route instead of signing on for a whole load of risk. It’s about finding a balance.
- Take Time To Track
When you’re trying to pinch pennies a little bit, you can be a touch hesitant about things like analytics and tracking, but they are well-worth their value if you use them correctly. Why? Because you can see what return you are getting from your social media accounts and website and then make the improvements necessary to get more out of them. Basically, tracking stops you wasting money, and that has to be a good thing.
- Cut Communication Costs
The secret to success within any team is communication. Everyone knows that. It’s collaborating efficiently and being able to call on one another whenever it is needed. That said, you don’t need to pay for an expensive phone plan to have your employees communicate effectively, even if you all work remotely. Instead, use apps that are free of charge, like WhatsApp, Skype and Slack. If they don’t work, then fine, but they are well worth a trial run.
- Find More Freebies
Nothing makes a newbie entrepreneur happier than a freebie. Period. So go and find them. Go to places like Download [dot com] and see what software you can get for free to do that task you need doing. It could be something similar to Photoshop or Quickbooks or anything you can think of. Chances are, it is out there.