Starting a business can be a bit of a strain financially at the onset, as you are growing and becoming known in your industry. Often, many businesses don’t see a genuine profit for the first two to five years of opening. But no business can afford to stand still and not progress – it could mean the death of your company and the emptying of your wallet. It A company needs to evolve and experience consistent growth in order to survive. Growth doesn’t mean that you need to double in size in a year for example. It can just mean that you get a new request to collaborate on a business venture each month, or develop another product, or even that your audience and client base grows. When you’re just getting started, no matter how your business is doing financially, it’s likely that you are doing everything on a budget.

Budgeting goes hand in hand when you’re a new entrepreneur. Here are some ideas on how to move forward responsibly while keeping a close eye on your expenses.

Outsourcing?

There is a question mark at the end of that heading for one simple reason – it’s not always cheaper to outsource. If you are churning out invoices every day and are consistently using the same freelance bookkeeper, it might be time to offer them a full-time role. Outsourcing is great, and a fantastic way to save money. Expenses are curtailed by not needing a bigger office, not having to pay benefits, vacation and sick pay, as well as only having to pay for the work as and when you need it. But if the “as and when” need is becoming a lot more frequent, then ask yourself if it wouldn’t be cheaper to hire rather than to outsource.

Content delivery

While on the subject of outsourcing – there might be new avenues to consider that would free up some of your time to work on other, more pressing things which will grow your business. Considering outsourcing to get affordable CDN, (content delivery network), for example, would give you access to the expertise of that company and you can then use their services to further your audience reach and content quality. Delivering great content is an absolute must for any company – but it’s not an easy job that can be delegated to just anyone. So if you don’t have the time, and you have decided not to hire someone full time, then outsourcing is always the best option in this case.
Organized social media

When it comes to running a business in this day in age you have to be on social media. There is no way that you will survive in the business world without being on at least the three leading platforms; Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And along with these, it’s recommended that you have a presence on Linkedin, as well as having a company blog site. Again, you can hire someone or outsource the work. You can also attempt to oversee this yourself if this is an area in which you are skilled and are confident in your time management skills. Write blogs and posts in advance – you can set blogs to be published at later dates, meaning that you can work a month ahead. Utilizing an editorial calendar would be wise. Use a recording device that converts to text. This allows you to capture thoughts as they come to mind, when you’re driving, in the airport or the supermarket.

Creative financing is a handy skill when you’re just getting started in business. Begin in business with good habits now, and you’ll likely continue with them as you become more successful.

Good luck!

*article may contain affiliate links