If you have always desired to be your own boss, then starting your business is the best way to go. Think of it, if you start your own business, you never have to answer to anyone else but yourself. You get to set the deadlines, decide on your workload, and to control every aspect of your business. However, there is usually one thing that is in your way – and that is money.
It is widely known that starting up your own business is not that cheap; however, it doesn’t have to be that way. It is totally possible to start a business on a very tight budget – and all you need is to learn a couple of money-saving tricks that could help you do it. These are:
Working From Home
One of the biggest hurdles when it comes to starting up a business is the premises where you will locate or set up the business. As such, it makes sense for you to start off by working from home during the early days. This approach makes most sense if your start up is one that is largely desk-based; at the same time, it is an option that you can take up if you work in trades that require workshop space.
However, if working from home is not a viable option for you, then consider looking further afield for extra working space options. Consider looking for space within town, but the further out of town you move, the cheaper it usually becomes. If you want to seem more central you can always use a mail forwarding service from a city location.
Utilize People You Know
As a business is growing, there will be need to hire additional members to ensure that the daily operations and tasks that need to be handled for the business to operate is accomplished. Sadly, the hiring of extra staff members, especially when you are starting out, can be a major expense. As such, it is therefore advisable that you consider starting out with family and friends, that is if they are happy to help you out. You probably might not have the funds required to pay their wages, but as long as you do not take advantage of their kindness, it will become easy to reach an amicable agreement – so do not be afraid to ask them.
Learn For Free
Most start-ups tend to require that you be a jack-of-all-trades during the initial days. As such, it pays for you to get some training in some key areas of your business. This does not necessarily mean that you spend a ton of cash on different courses or forking out formal qualifications. The great thing is that the market today is full of free online courses from top institutions that cover everything from management, to branding, data analysis, and even marketing amongst many other things.
Here are a few places to learn for free:
Buy Used/Secondhand Equipment
Sourcing new office, studio and workshop furniture and equipment can be rather pricey. However, you can avoid this by going for second-hand or used stuff. Nonetheless, used doesn’t mean that you should compromise on quality. The good thing, however, is that most used items on sale tend to be in good working condition and are often relatively new, with only very small signs of wear and tear – but that is if you know where to go looking. You can easily find furniture like desks, cabinets and chairs at great bargain prices, allowing you to save tons of cash during the very first days of your business.
For things like machinery, catering equipment or tools, you could opt to lease rather than buying new ones. This way, you get to save money that can be put into launching and managing your new start up. Often, leased items are well maintained and are therefore in top conditions. Take time and search online to find companies that lease equipment and furniture.
Extra Savings!
Whatever business you venture into, you will need to ensure that you have essential things like a broadband connection, a phone and probably even a card processing machine. Such expenses as these can add up over time, however, by signing up on a service like XLN, you could end up saving a lot through the business packages they have to offer, and which include Business Fibre, Business Energy, Business Broadband, Business Phone and a range of other card processing terminals. Here are some extra tips.
