The generation of today is very interested towards business due to the entrepreneurial lifestyle being glorified in the media and social media (like Instagram). Since social media was released people are always comparing their own situation to others, being aware of what others are doing also motivates you heavily to do better.
One of the things that may stop youngsters to take an initiative is the financial risk. Fortunately, there are many ways in which startup costs can be minimized. These costs can be reduced to an extent where the financial risk is miniscule. Here are some of the ways to minimize the startup costs:
Comparison shop for web domains, acquire expired domains
One of the major expenses that a business has is websites. Websites can be expensive. You would either want to hire an entire team to do so or make a website on your own, or even use a free open source platform such as WordPress. Whatever the case is, you will need a hosting service and web domain. It is imperative to comparison shop when it comes to web domains. There are many hosting companies which provide promotions on different hosting services and web domains. You must look out for them. To get a leap ahead in SEO you may wish to purchase an expired domain that already has backlinks built to them, this can save you a lot of time and money. The alternative is you can still buy an expired domain and just redirect it once you acquire one as this passes link juice.
Use open source tools
There are many studies carried out which show that open source tools can save you a lot of money, such as WordPress. There are many basic features of WordPress that can be utilized for free. For any business that is tight on their budget can use this platform as their main choice. Since WordPress is an open source project, you will also be able to find a lot of developers in the community, or utilise plugins. If you look you will generally find the programming work has already been done in the form of a plugin, there is no point to reinvent the wheel every time you need a feature implemented, that is the superpower of the WordPress ecosystem. This window treatment company had gotten a quote to develop the website for $50,000, instead they looked and found a plugin to do custom made window blinds product options for a fraction of the cost it would have taken to develop the website otherwise.
Create SEO content
This is another way in which you can save a great deal of money when it comes to startups. When it comes to advertisement of company, if you want to ensure that there is a lot of traffic on your website, consider building a blog tailored to highly searched keywords. Rather than paying a great deal of money on paid ads, you can create a blog and test the waters first. However, you need to ensure that the blog is creative and can relate to the audience in an effective manner. You can use a tool such as Ahrefs to find the relevant keywords and traffic. The best thing about creating content on your blog is that it doesn’t cost anything but your time to write the article.
Learn other forms of marketing
We have covered other marketing forms such as search engine optimisation, SEO is considered the backbone of any startup business however you can also do influencer marketing on social media. This shouldn’t cost you anything to network – you can operate off the affiliate model where the influencer will do the post for free but will earn a commission on any sales made via something like a coupon code.
Price negotiation
This is another common way to save costs. Negotiation is something that we do all the time. However, this skill is of immense importance when it comes to businesses. Price must always be negotiated whenever the company is entering into a transaction with suppliers. The cost of goods directly affects the retail price. Price is the number one factor when consumers are considering a purchase, as such we need really interact with suppliers on a personal level in order to obtain competitive pricing, it can really mean the difference between your business succeeding or not.
Dropship some or all of your inventory
Handling stock can be the biggest expense of a business if you are a retailer. E-commerce in general is where this really applies to, you can display all of your products without actually having anything, and just place the order with your supplier once someone orders something on your website. I’m sure most people have heard of drop shipping but here are a few examples of websites that are currently doing this, one sells printer ink, and the other floor rugs here. You just wouldn’t think it upon first glance.
Even though this is not an exhaustive list, it contains most of the common ways in which a startup can save money.
