Starting out in business is a great moment for many people and even though the current economic climate is very harsh, people are still successfully making a go for their business dreams. One aspect for all start-ups to consider especially if you do not have large financial backing is to keep costs and overheads down right from the get go.
Watch Out For The Overhead
A large overhead has the ability to kill even the very best business ideas, furthermore large overheads create unnecessary pressure on your business and also your own personal life, so they need to be avoided at all costs. For example even Facebook as a business would have failed if they could not afford to keep the servers up in the first 12 months of their business.
Anyone who has already ventured into setting up their own business will understand this fact much better than any brand new business men or women looking to start out. Outlined below are a few fundamental pitfalls that you need to try to avoid and they could really help you maximize your first 12 month profits, which after all is the aim for all businesses large or small.
Necessities Come First
When you are first starting out whether it is with a very small budget or even with an investor, try to keep the overhead down by looking at what your business actually needs for the first 12 months. So for example if you can do a lot of your business over the phone and via email then you might not need a company car.
Also your business will more than likely need a web presence no matter what size of business you are but the first 12 months you might only need a small brochure website rather than a full blow e-commerce website which would cost thousands to develop and promote.
The idea is to decide what you business really needs and the best way to do this is to outline what you need and why you need it. If there is anything that you can make do without then do because all these costs soon add up and you can be many thousands down before you even start trading if you are not careful.
Do You Need An Office?
An office is a very big cost for a business especially in the first 12 months of trading, so you need to analyze whether you can operate from home initially because this could save you a large amount of money.
If you do need an office because of lack of space at home or for clients visiting you, then make sure you shop around to find the very best deal. Try to negotiate breaks in the contract term because the last thing you want is to be tied up for 3 years especially if you want to expand or downsize. If you do get an office and employ staff this means you will also need to look at health and safety procedures as well which can also bring with it additional costs.
Shop Around For Everything
One of the worst things you can do is to go with the very first quote you get for anything related to your business from offices, marketing costs, website design, to advertising options. As a business owner it is down to you to get the very best deal for any product or service you need and that means going for the best quality, most flexible contract and lowest price. Remember while getting the lowest cost is always a good target, do not compromise quality or your business and brand can suffer as a result of poor quality goods.
About the Author: Jonathan works with Veritas Consulting who are specialists in health and safety services and fire risk assessments.
