Launching a Startup is easy, the difficult part is to succeed and turn it into a successful enterprise. As a Startupper your main concern is to save money at any cost and any possibility while multitasking and trying to compete against other Startups.
The first thing you need to remember while having a Startup is that you should not lose hope, the success won’t come overnight. You need to work for it for long hours day and night and even then success is not guaranteed.
I am not trying to scare you off, but having a Startup is not easy and there will definitely be ups and downs. After every hardship, there is a new challenge, so you need to start appreciating small wins and rewards along the way. This will give you a push to continue and not give up.
There are many guidebooks and materials online that focus on the advice and guidelines with which one can create a successful Startup company and stay in the business for a long time.
However, the advice from people who have lived through the experiences and have taken the same journey which you are planning to take as a Startupper is more practical and precise. After reading Bhargava, Rajat & Herman, Will’s book The Startup Playbook: Founder-to-Founder Advice From Two Startup Veterans, I realized that Startup requires exceptional attention to details and a high sense of responsibility.
In order to make the journey of a beginner Startupper easy, I decided to collect some tips that will be mostly focused on the ways of increasing cost-effectiveness and omitting the costs completely if they are not of high significance:
- Benefit From
Outsourcing and Freelancers
Since the market provides an abundance of freelancers
willing to accomplish the job at a relatively lower rate, Startups can easily
benefit from them. If you want to build a website for your Startup, then you
might be looking for a web developer or a content writer for your blog, and
freelancers can have your back on that. However, you need to take into account
that you receive the quality you pay for. Hence, the unrealistically low rates
should not attract you because the high quality won’t be there.
- Advertising
your brand can be more affordable than you think
If your Startup is just taking the first steps and you
would like to save some money on marketing and advertising, then you can do
that easily. Advertising your brand starts from the point when your name
appears on somebody’s screen or the business card. No matter whether it’s your private
social
media account or email address, the
signature box or the bio should always include the details of your Startup and
a website. Use LinkedIn and similar platforms for sharing information about
your brand and engage in online discussions with potential customers. It needs
to be noted that the last one is a little time-consuming, but being active on
social media platforms can help you reach the targeted audience.
- Choose
your destination wisely
The location of your Startup can be decisive for its
success hence before you make decisions about the area or the district where
you want to establish your presence, you should do market research. How high is
the demand for the type of products you offer in that area? Who are your
potential competitors there? Do you have a competitive advantage over them and
if yes, how big your advantage is? What are you offering to your customers that
others do not? Before making a considerable investment in a lease or spending all
your money on renting a place, you should try to answer these questions.
Establishing your company on a permanent address can be an overstretching of
your resources in the initial stages of your business development. Hence it
would be recommended to start as an online platform or rent a Kiosk and analyze
how wise it is to base your Startup there permanently.
- Always
have a Plan B
In the Startup world, it is crucial to have a Plan B if
your initial plan does not work or if something unexpected happens to you. As
we mentioned above, starting a Startup is easy, but so is the collapse of a
Startup. To avoid this, you will need to have insurance for your business that
can protect you from going bankrupt after a few bumps on the road to success.
If you are not sure where to start from, you can check the websites offering
the assistance in insurance that can be
of great benefit for you to come up with the scenarios that would be
devastating for your business and avoid them.
- Set
a Budget and Review Frequently
Financial discipline is a valuable asset, not only for your personal but career-related reasons as well. Hence, you should set up a budget plan determining the amount of money you are willing to take for certain activities. This will help you be prepared for upcoming expenses and avoid unexpected costs. Also, knowing the number of expenses in detail helps you better determine the price of your service. However, it is also vital to constantly review and update your budget plan. The costs often fluctuate from month to month, especially for Startups that are coming to a realization along the way what they need and in what amount. So, your business would benefit from constant reviewing of your resources and the financial expenses you are willing to take.
Conclusion
Saving on money and having a well-defined Plan B for your business is a very useful tip one can give to a Startup. The current business market is filled with uncertainties, and it is essential to be prepared for all kinds of developments by lowering your costs. Finally, even though strategizing your finances is one of the most important factors in building a successful Startup, you should not forget that a good relationship with your employees and acquiring their trust and loyalty is similarly important. No matter whether it is a freelancer or a permanent employee, you should always try your best to make them feel great in your company.