You’re ready to start your business, congratulations!

This will be a time of great excitement for sure.  It can also be a time of great confusion and blinding fear.  A few tips to get you through startup and into the profits.

What are your strengths?
Or better yet, what are your weaknesses or the stuff you just hate doing?  Generally, we fall into one of two categories.  We’re either great at sales or great at delivering what was sold.  Salespeople love to sell but struggle with delivery.  Delivery people love doing the work but struggle with how to sell it. Resist the urge to invest in what you already know and love, instead invest in what you struggle with.  Either through education, information or just outright hiring someone to do it for you.

What do you need?
You may be surprised to find out you actually very little to get your business up and running profitably.

There are many flashy “must have’s” that may be beckoning you that you can probably live without where you are starting out, things like:

• Expensive business cards and marketing materials
• A professionally designed website
• Produced video
• High rent office space

Here are some budget saving alternatives:

• Online and local print shops offer great deals on business cards and they often have templates you can use to create your own design.
• Using a template on WIX, WordPress or SquareSpace will let you create a simple website to tell a prospective client who you are, what you do and how you can serve them.  Until you can afford a professionally designed site start with what you have and invest as you become profitable. 
• Carve out space in your home, you’re paying for it anyway, and set up shop.  If you need space outside your home get creative or look at by the hour or daily space rentals.

OK, for all of my thriftiness there is one place you can’t skimp… the legal stuff.  It’s the boring junk we often don’t think of but missing this can cost you huge later on.

This is where you either want to seek the advice and services of an attorney or accountant or use a self-service provider that can get the setup and compliance done for you. This will be the best money you ever spend.

The belief that you need to spend money to make money is only as real as you believe it to be. Strong, profitable businesses are created every day with limited funding and a ton of effort which are both controlled by you!