Thursday 15 December 2011

Start Your Business With A Penny

So you’re just starting out and need a little money to get your cash flow going, how to do it? Well that’s the tricky part, banks aren’t lending and business angels are looking for the investment of a life-time. Go limited then? Looking for family and friends to invest can be awkward and most people are looking to save money right now, not risk it. And trust me, right now, when you’re starting out you’re a risk! So you want to fund the business yourself and limit the damage to your own bank balance, here are some simple tips on how to do it:

-Lead the frugal life. Sounds great fun! Well maybe not, but trust me this is one easy thing we can all do. Cut back, it may have to be a little or a lot but it can be done. Yes we see those glamorous entrepreneur types, but that’s not how it is at the start. You’d be surprised the wealthy are known for their penny pinching and shrewd spending habits. They literally do save the pennies until the millions come rolling in!

-Know your assets. Some of your expensive purchases house, car, those you’ve put sneakily on your credit card so they don’t wipe out your bank balance, they’re assets surely? Nope, if you are paying back monthly and with interest these are your liabilities. Although it might not be possible to get rid of them entirely, I don’t want to make you homeless! Pay them off as quickly as possible and avoid loans in future.

-Turn green, and not with envy! This can save you loads of money-grow your own food, cut your household bills, use your bike not the car and recycle, reuse, regift. All of these put together can give you massive savings.

-Make your money work harder. You pay back interest on loans, but make sure you are getting interest back on your savings to compensate. Yes rates overall aren’t great at the moment but with some research behind you there are a couple of little gems. And remember use your ISA first, so you don’t pay tax on your interest!

-Coupons and Cutbacks. Price comparison sites are your best friend, you can find some great discounts. There are also many group purchasing, cashback and voucher sites that are worth checking out, see if you can use any together to lower the price further! Think about the opportunity cost of every purchase and work out how much certain purchases cost you over a year, that 60p chocolate bar you have everyday for example, over a year that’s costing you £219!

How to manage your money, set yourself a budget. Keep it simple, work out your income and outgoings, work out what expenditure you can cut out or at least cut down. The figure you are left with is what you need to save and not spend! Work it down to a daily budget so you can keep track of what you spend easily.
If you try all of the things above it will greatly help you raise the first couple of hundred pounds you need for materials, equipment or marketing. It will also help you practice the skills you will need to manage your company’s cash flow and keep within budget.

1 comment:

  1. Everything you say is so true, it's not always fun but you got do what you have to do

    ReplyDelete