3 False Economies For Business Startups
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When you’re in the process of fulfilling your entrepreneurial ambitions and launching your business, the term “startup costs” will be something you come to hate. Of course, launching a business is expensive – even the most basic, small enterprise is going to have expenses. The bigger your project becomes, the more likely it’s going to add a few zeroes on the end of the total amount you’re spending just to get off the ground.
The idea of beginning your business journey by spending a lot of money (or accruing a lot of debt) is not particularly attractive for most entrepreneurs. It feels like you’re getting off on the wrong foot, spending money before you have even had the chance to make it. With proper accounting your personal finances won’t be at risk, but the business ones – and thus your future – starting in the red can feel like something you have to avoid.
That’s true, too. It’s very easy for startup costs to get out of control, meaning a business begins its life with a debt that it cannot repay in a reasonable length of time. This puts an immediate pressure on the business to thrive from the moment it’s established, which ignores the simple reality that all new companies tend to need at least a few months without immediate concerns for profit. So there’s no doubt that limiting your startup costs and being parsimonious is a good way of handling the process.
It is, however, possible to go too far. There is usually a point in a business where it becomes tempting to “do it yourself” rather than spending money on hiring professionals to do it. These areas are rarely absolutely fundamental to your business, so it seems like you can afford to handle them for yourself.
Again: sometimes, that can work. If you’re willing to put the extra hours in, then it can make sense to try and come up with something that will suffice for the opening stages. You can always replace it later on with the work of a professional. However, you’ve got to be very careful that you don’t force yourself into a false economy, where it’s actually costing you money to DIY an aspect of your business.
Which areas should you never attempt to do for yourself? There’s a few of them, so let’s crack on…
#1 – Anything Relating To Safety
If you’re launching from a premises or even just converting a room in your house into an office, then you’re going to need help. Unless you are a qualified electrician, then you shouldn’t have anything to do with the electrics. Unless you are a qualified plumber, then the water heater should be off limits to you – and so on and so forth. These might be tasks you’ll have a go at in regards to your home, but as a business owner, there are far more regulations that you have to satisfy.
So while it may put a hole in your startup costs, it’s a hole that’s absolutely necessary when it comes to ensuring everything is as safe as can be.
#2 – Website Creation
It might sound extreme, but – as many businesses have discovered – the cost of bad website design is one of the most expensive mistakes your company can make. You might think that you can hop onto one of those WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) sites and click around until you have a simple business design, but that’s not true functionality or creativity. That’s going to be a shell, the only use of which is to tick off the fact you know you need a website.
Proper website design will not only bring customers to the site, but ensure they stay there by providing a seamless process for the user. Then there is the appearance aspect; poor website design is not going to impress prospective customers, to the extent they might perceive your site to be behind the times. It’s not worth it in the initial few months when you need to hang on to every conceivable customer, so dip your hand in your pocket for this one.
#3 – Written Text
There are numerous areas in a business that may require written text. There’s your social media posts, the text for your website, even the outline of presentation that you might take to investors.
Writing is something that we all can do, so of course it feels tempting to just write all of this yourself. Writing well, however, is a very specific skill set that only professionals can manage. There is a difference between jotting a diary entry and producing copy that someone is going to want to read, or might attract customers to your site. So hire a writer for the essentials, or you might find yourself regretting this oversight.
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