Starting a business is no child’s play. It takes a great amount of thought, planning and courage to invest your life savings in a venture that can earn you a ton of money or saddle you with massive debts.
Firstly, you’ll need enough money to meet the demands of your fledgeling business and to take care of your regular expenses as well. When everything is going right, you do not want a lack of funds killing the momentum. So, here are some financial tips to ensure your business takes flight.
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Exploit the power of social media
Since you’re just starting up, you need to be prudent with the resources available to you and use them with extreme caution. This is when social media comes into play. Social media is a powerful, pocket-friendly tool that can help you take your products or services to millions of potential customers.
You can either spend a bomb on hiring a marketing agency or you could exploit the reach of social media for a fraction of that cost. Base your decision on your financial situation and the financial demands of your business. If you can absorb the costs, then, by all means, go ahead and get the best marketing agency on board.
For others, the magic is social media marketing. It might sound complicated, but it isn’t. You just need to do your research and homework right. Starting a Facebook page for your brand is the best way of getting the word out about your business. And if you are lucky, you’ll even make a few bucks. This can happen even before you create a website for your company.
If you use the right marketing tools, you won’t need to spend big on marketing agencies. All you need to do is figure out your brand’s USP, find the right target audience, check what your competitors are doing and come up with an innovative action plan to put your brand message out there. That doesn’t sound that tough, does it?
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Go local first
Have you been living in your current city for some time now? We ask this because it’s easier to establish a business in a city you’ve been living in for some time. If you need help, which you will, your friends, family and acquaintances will just be a call away.
Moreover, since you’ve been in the current city for quite some time now, you know exactly where to go looking for what. One of the most crucial elements of running a business is saving up on raw materials and other resources. When you are familiar with a city, you’ll know how to navigate the markets and find the best price deals outlets.
Knowing the language and people can prove to be of great help as well. You can negotiate and find better deals and the overall process of buying and selling becomes less complicated.
Additional Reading: 5 Ways To Raise Money For Your Business
Get more interns on board
Since you have just started out, you might not be able to afford the salaries of a lot of employees. But, you do need people to help you run the business. You can’t just be a one-man army after all.
Here’s where interns can save the day for you. You don’t need to pay them fat salaries and they can help handle multiple things. It’s a fair deal. Interns want opportunities and you need enthusiastic employees.
Sometimes interns might work for free or a stipend (we’ve all done that, haven’t we?). All this money you save in salaries can be invested in your business.
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Do you want a partner?
While you’re still in the planning stage, there are high chances that you might think, feel and act like a one-man army. We get it! The kick of starting something all by yourself is a different feeling altogether. But, feelings aside, you also need to look at the viability of the whole scenario.
There will be times when you’ll feel the need to brainstorm your ideas with an equally smart person. At other times you may need someone who can handle some part of the business while you look into the other parts. For instance, if you are good at handling the marketing vertical, you could do with someone who can look into the technology part. Together, you can divide the problems and find solutions to them quickly.
It’s not always possible to be the jack of all trades. Better be the expert in your own field, right? That brightens your chances of success too. It’s good to have a support system in tough times, isn’t it?
Additional Reading: 8 Steps To Start Your Own Business
Don’t overdo marketing
Like we mentioned before, you can either opt to hire a marketing agency or you could go about it yourself. Marketing is something you mustn’t overdo. It’s an expensive vertical and the results can vary.
No matter what you do, you need to ensure that your marketing strategy strikes a chord with your target audience. Once that’s done, you’ll never need to worry too much about your marketing strategy taking the wrong turn.
Even if you need to start with a niche segment, do that. Don’t shoot for the stars until you’re capable and confident of handling the brightness. Every move might not necessarily require professional help. So focus on cutting down those unwanted expenses on fancy services. You don’t need that and neither does your business.
You also need to have a contingency plan in mind. What if your startup doesn’t do well? What if in the worst situation you’re forced to shut down and move on? That’s when you’ll regret spending excessively on marketing. You don’t want to do that, do you?
Additional Reading: Case Study – Make A Wish, I Want Money To Start A Business!
If these are just the early days of your entrepreneurial journey, you’re likely to feel stressed, especially financially. But, hang in there! If you implement the above-mentioned steps, you’ll definitely be able to save better. And once you have enough money in the bank, you can utilise it to expand and grow your business. All it takes is some careful planning and execution.
Let’s build that business fund carefully. How about a Fixed Deposit? We have the best rates for you.