In order to profit, every business needs to keep trimming down costs in mind – the expenses are just as important as the income. This entry will not deal with increasing your startup’s income, but rather the ways you can cut the costs down; this is especially convenient and useful for those on a shoestring budget; and as a startup, we know that you are always looking to save up.
Cloudsourcing
No more than 10 years ago, an independent career of a freelancer wasn’t attainable for the majority of people. The dream of being your own boss has never been more tangible than it is today. Using freelancing websites such as Freelancer or iWriter, professionals can post their CVs and portfolios and try earning money by offering their skills for a limited period.
This internet-based type of outsourcing is called “cloudsourcing”, and its very essence is allowing business teams to hire experts in certain fields on non-permanent positions. These professionals are perfect for temporary business position requirements, like graphic artist and website designer. Why keep someone you only need temporarily?
When it comes to planning and cutting down costs, cloudsourcing means a ton of flexibility.
Temps and interns
On the other hand, even cloudsourcing can mean wasted money. How come? Well, make no mistake, although hiring someone temporarily for finishing certain tasks and covering your business’s temporary needs is definitely preferable to going full-time, freelancers are still professionals – they are experts that will charge you heftily.
Now, if you want to make sure that the job is done in a perfect way, as a top priority, going with cloudsourcing might be your best bet, but the fact of the matter remains that not every position is equally important. In other words, you don’t need guaranteed competence for every single task regarding your startup.
Temps are a perfect solution for simple tasks, such as ordering and bringing food to other employees, putting paper into the printer and helping out with simpler work-related things. Using temp agencies for hiring does come with a fair share of downsides, but it will doubtlessly save you money.
If you want to hire for nothing or next to nothing, go around local colleges and hire interns – in some cases, they will require nothing but a recommendation for their portfolio!
Storage space efficiency
As a startup, you always need to deliver. Yes, “deliver”, proverbially meaning distributing good product, but also meaning actually making sure that your customers are satisfied with your deliveries! It might seem ridiculous, but they will appreciate efficient deliveries so much, that they will disregard any occasional mistake that you might make. This means a lot for an up-and-coming business.
In order to ensure prompt and quality deliveries, you should invest into quality commercial storage solutions – do not try saving up here. When it comes to equipment, buying new is definitely more reliable, but renting is also more than a viable option. Choose based on your business’s needs.
Discounts
There is an unspoken rule in the world of business: “a good businessperson knows what to buy for their business; an outstanding one knows when and where to do so!” A true entrepreneur always pays close attention to discounts and sales, even when it comes to items they don’t think they need. Of course, suddenly becoming aware of all available opportunities is impossible, and it’s not as if a quick course in discount awareness exists. This acquirable trait takes time to develop, along with dedication and being informed. Don’t wait for the discount offers to start appearing at your doorstep – this won’t happen; show gumption, take initiative, get out there and keep your eyes peeled!
Buying in bulk
Discounts often go hand-in-hand with buying in bulk – the retailers that offer trimmed prices often do so because they want to get rid of surplus items, which is why they will offer ridiculous per-piece prices if you want to buy in bulk. It is essential that you don’t get baited here. Here’s a rather simplified example: if your budget is $40 and someone offers you a brand-new supercar for $500, you won’t buy it – the price might be ridiculous, but your budget is still only $40.
Here’s a real-life example: say that you’ve stumbled upon a bulk discount on pens. Unless you really need thousand pens for a ridiculous price of $500, you’re going to end up with monetary loss and an excess number of unnecessary items. Keep in mind that $500 is always $500.
We hope that we’ve shown you that trimming your costs down is just as important as increasing income. Think about cloudsourcing where appropriate, even hire temps/interns accordingly. Run an efficient storage space, keep your eyes peeled for discounts, but be careful when buying in bulk!