Last Updated on Mar 27, 2020 by James W
Starting a successful business need not require a huge initial investment. We’ve all heard the stories about how this or that multi-million dollar venture began with a couple of bucks and a great idea, and it’s true that even the biggest oaks with branches all over the world started from a tiny acorn.
You have nothing to lose
Starting small can actually be an advantage, because you don’t have a huge amount of money invested in your venture. This means that you can afford to fail, which in turn means that you can afford to take risks – and paradoxically, taking risks is often how businesses succeed. If you don’t, at least you can walk away and start again.
Starting with a tight budget forces you to innovate. You’ll learn marketing and sales techniques yourself because you cannot afford to pay someone else to do it. The lessons you learn about economizing will also serve you well when you have more money to spend.
Spend on what you need
You only have a budget for the essentials, so work out what they are. Do you really need an office or a workshop, or can you operate from home? When you do have money, you will also have a much clearer idea from experience of what you should spend it on. Cloud computing means you can pay for software as a service rather than investing in hard tech; pay for what you need and expand as the business grows, or scale back if times are tough.
Use internet resources
Use existing online platforms to promote your business. Many of these will cost you hardly anything: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, EBay, Amazon, Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress etc. Various crowdfunding sites can also be a great way to generate capital and build a community at the same time – crowdsourcing investors feel a connection to your company and can become some of your best cheerleaders and customers.
Keep connected
As your business grows, SIP trunking can be a great low-cost way to keep everyone on the same page. What is SIP trunking? Put simply, it is a business tool using Session Initiation Protocol to allow multiple parties to communicate online, simultaneously. Because it is fully scalable and flexible, it’s a way to keep expenses down when compared to traditional telephony, while establishing a reliable, dedicated private network for your company.
New economy
In the modern economy, you can keep costs down through co-operation and mutual assistance. Employing interns rather than staff means you can work to budget while giving young people an opportunity to gain experience within the industry of their choice. Sharing skills and resources with other entrepreneurs can benefit both parties and build valuable connections for the future.
Ultimately, a great idea, hard work, perseverance and innovation count far more than capital. As long as you can work effectively to meet your goals and gradually start to generate income, there is no reason why a small budget should hold you back from making your business a success.
