Are you thinking about setting up your own small business? Or perhaps you have already done so, and are struggling through the early stages. Wherever you are in the process, you have no doubt discovered that one of the biggest challenges for any budding entrepreneur is finance.
Starting up your own company requires a lot of money. You have to fork out for the overheads, insurance, computer systems, apps, stock, and much more. It can take a great deal of time to become profitable, so in the initial months and years you need to do everything you can to keep your cash flow at a sustainable level.
To get you started, here are four great ways to save your small business money.
Outsource
Having a team of dedicated employees may seem nice, but it’s expensive.
Not only do you have to pay for their salaries, but each member of staff also raises your overheads, equipment costs, and other expenses. It is often much cheaper to outsource their job to an external company.
You can outsource anything from digital marketing to accountancy. You can get expert help, but you’re only paying for it when you desperately need it. If you need assistance to set up your website to accept credit card payments, simply hire a developer or payment processing service for a half a day and you’ve saved money.
Do it yourself
The best small business owners are able to wear multiple hats. Although you want to be in charge of running the company and finding new clients, you may need to dip your fingers into other pies as well.
Rather than hiring people for the job, why not teach yourself how to use social media, build websites, and even do your own bookkeeping? You may find yourself with a lot of work to do, but the cost-savings will be monumental.
Use organic marketing
A solid marketing strategy is essential if you want to get more eyes on your brand and attract potential buyers. If you have the budget for it, you could spend money on targeted Facebook Ads, Google AdWords campaigns, and costly print displays.
But for a small start-up this is rarely practical. Organic marketing methods are free, and although it is harder to make traction, if you do it well you can be just as successful.
Work on your content marketing strategy, creating high-quality, valuable blog articles, videos, and social media posts and sharing them out widely. Excellent content will draw in readers and gradually grow your following without you spending a penny.
Go green
Climate change is one of the biggest talking points right now, and there is a lot of pressure on businesses to be more sustainable and work towards a cleaner, greener future. But going green doesn’t only make you a more ethical business; it can actually save you money in many ways.
Being more conservative with your energy usage is a good place to start. Pay attention to how much unnecessary water and electricity your workplace uses and try to cut down. Going paperless is an increasingly common move for businesses nowadays and can save you a fortune on paper and printing costs.