4 tips to save money when starting a small business
Getting a small business off the ground is no small feat, but one of the most daunting challenges for a new business owner is the unending costs inherent to this endeavor. From advertising to company events, hiring staff to your office lease, handling the overwhelming expenses of a startup can topple a business in any industry.
Skip Traditional Advertising
It is possible to cut ties with traditional advertising methods and still reach a wide audience. The advent of the digital world has provided access to endless possibility for targeted marketing. Here are a few of the newer advertising methods that could actually save you money:
Search Engine Optimization
You can’t run a successful e-commerce business without working on your rankings. It’s important to improve your chances of landing within the top search engine results to nab customers seeking terms related to your service or product. Consider which keywords would best apply to your brand, and cater your site’s copy around those terms. Use a free SEO plug-in to help guide your optimization efforts, including title tags, meta-descriptions, and photo tags or hire an SEO consultant to help you make the necessary changes to your existing site.
Social Media Marketing
Modern businesses can’t excel without capitalizing on the rewards a great social media strategy provides. Social channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are free and can save you thousands of dollars per month in marketing spend. Use applicable networks to connect with consumers, alert your audience about promotions, provide customer support, and connect with brands in the same vertical.
Become an Industry Leader with Content
Content creation is an aspect of public relations that can provide significant benefits down the line. Maintaining a high-quality blog that provides your audience with valuable, useful information means pulling in new customers. Authoritative, high-quality blog posts, landing pages, and white papers can all be used to show your target demographic that your product or service is the best solution to their problem.
Seek Out Sponsors for Company Events
Events can help your business draw in new customers whether that’s in the form of a gala, seminar, or Grand Opening. However, the cost of these events can be overwhelming for a small business barely getting on its feet. It’s a good idea to approach sponsors that might help you tackle these expenses; typically, local sponsors are willing to front you the necessary event money in exchange for a form of advertising displayed during said event.
Make Better Hiring Decisions
As your business expands, you’ll need to also expand your roster of employees. Take care to hire the right people for open positions; as your daily processes ramp up, it’s understandable that you want to make a hire on the spot in order to handle rising demand—don’t make this costly mistake. Hiring the wrong person for your company can cost you thousands of dollars in training time, turnover, and potential negligent hiring cases. Do your due diligence and take your time to find great hires with every position that opens up. ShareAble for Hires, Transunion’s new background check service for employers, is an online screening solution that makes it easy to run credit checks and criminal checks on new hires. The small investment required to use a service like this is far less than the cost of having to find a new employee in just a month’s time.
Embrace Remote Capabilities
If you find that you can’t afford in-house employees, consider embracing the power of telecommuting. Granted, telecommuting isn’t a viable option for all businesses, but if it works for your daily processes, it could be a fantastic way to save on the costs of employment. Contracted employees don’t require benefits, and you won’t need to worry about handling their share of taxes. If you find hiring a remote worker is a sensible option for your organization, check out Freelancer.com and find high-quality contractors working across the globe.
Starting a small business will test you in numerous ways, but the rewards can be great. Consider the avenues you can save with these strategies and make your entrepreneurial dreams a reality.