Setup costs for a new business can mount frighteningly quickly when you’re trying to get yourself established. The fact is that now and again, you will have to cut corners in order to get things done. For example, it may not be sensible to spend money on renting an office when a home office would be perfectly adequate for those first few months. When it comes to making your budget stretch to cover everything you need in those crucial early months, it can be useful to sort your priorities out so you know which expenditures will benefit your business most down the line, and where you can get away with a less expensive option.
These tips will help you spend your money wisely when you’re trying to launch your business and build a strong foundation.
Safety First
Aside from the obvious fact that neglecting to invest adequately in safety considerations could pose a threat to your staff, your property and even your customer, nothing sinks a business like a reputation for unsafe practices. This is especially crucial if you work in an industry that involves heavy machinery or waste disposal. For example, a top mud tank cleaning service will always put safety first. But even if your business is less hands-on, it is crucial that even seemingly small health and safety stipulations are followed to the letter. When you don’t have a lot of capital upfront, the temptation to skimp on things like fire extinguisher servicing or first-aid supplies can be great. What are the chances of a disaster, right? But if you think about it for a minute, you’ll see that these expenditures are non-negotiable for any business that cares about staff and customers.
A Proper Website
Investing some of your limited funds in a professionally built website for your business is an expensive outlay for a new enterprise. For this reason, it’s not unusual for startups to create their first website with the aid of a template offered by a site like Squarespace. You can’t go too wrong with a professional template, but once your company is fully operational, you may find that the template-based site doesn’t give you the functionality you need for your particular product, service or customer experience.
Brand Identity
As soon as you can afford it, it’s a good idea to get a professional branding agency onboard so your business website and advertising reflect as accurately as possible your vision for your brand. A strong brand identity is one of the things that sets established companies apart from startups, so your brand reputation and professionalism will be bolstered by that consistent, voice and look. Image Nike without the tick? Impossible, right? A good branding agency will respect your brand vision, while offering their own creative ideas to help you enhance and refine the ways that vision is delivered to your audience, whether through graphics, fonts or copy. The key to managing this process successfully is to remain open to your branding agency’s ideas, while holding true to your brand values and objectives.
Launching a new business is always going to be a learning curve. If you aren’t sure how to stretch your budget without hurting your future prospects, these tips will help you invest your money in all the right places.