The prospect of developing a business that is your own and that you believe in is exhilarating as well as daunting. Most small businesses, however, never really get a chance to take off because of extortionate overheads, rental costs, and salaries, all before a profit is made! Don’t be deterred by this though, because, as a start-up, with very little capital, you CAN make it! However, you need to be box-clever, be strategic, be patient, and perhaps delegate some of your responsibilities to a Virtual assistant.
This way you can build your empire up slowly and precisely. For any business to be successful, you must focus on reducing costs as much as possible. This is the key to success. So how do you go about saving money whilst starting your own business? We have five top ways just for you:
Run Your Office From Home
This is one of the cleverest ways to save money right from the get-go! With a home office, you have no rental costs to deal with, and you can create a perfect space for yourself in the comfort of your own home (and no-one needs ever know that most morning business calls are done in your onesie and fluffy slippers).
Go Virtual – Hire a Virtual Assistant
As a small business owner, employing an assistant on a permanent basis is a huge financial burden on your business. A permanent employee would also require certain benefits and allowances which would affect your bottom line. Using a virtual assistant means that you have somebody there to support you at the touch of a button, without dealing with unnecessary outlays.
Outsourcing staff means that you do not have to employ anybody on a permanent basis. If your laptop crashes, you can hire a virtual IT guru to assist you, if you have to do your dreaded tax returns, you can hire an online accountant whizz to sort your books out! The great thing about virtual staff is that you pay them by the hour for the work they do for you!
Get Tech Savvy
Another great way to save money as a small business is finding the best project/business management applications and having them installed. A small business can save a lot by switching to free software (where possible) and moving away from those that require a monthly or annual fee.
We are inundated with free software online these days, and most software programs only require you to download them. Almost every aspect of a business can be done using free software – of course with most, you get a premium service if you upgrade, but this is something you can do at a later stage when in the green!
Negotiate & Collaborate
Running your own business requires a certain amount of gutsy negotiation skills. At the end of the day, your business is about working out the best way to manage cash whilst still working on enhancing growth. The best way to do this is to begin collaborating with other businesses, exchanging goods for goods or goods for services, for example.
Networking, bartering, exchanging and collaborating is a great way to get your business out there in the playing field, and for you to get noticed by other big players out there.
Think Green – Go Green
When running your own business, especially from home, this is one of the best strategies to live by. You can save so much by switching to a paperless operation and using cloud networks, thus saving on paper, printers, and ink!
Conclusion
Starting your own business is an exciting time, so make sure your BIG dream starts off small. Starting off modestly isn’t shameful, it’s clever, so don’t delay in starting your dream business. If you stick to the above guidelines we have outlined above, you will carve out a road of success for yourself, we have no doubt.
We know, that as a busy entrepreneur, your primary need is to focus on getting your business off the ground, so the very first task we recommend doing is finding your perfect virtual assistant who can manage your day to day administrative duties, while you focus on making money, so get in touch with us to start a free-trial with one of our amazing PA’s today!
