Starting a Business with Little Cash
Starting and operating a business with little or no money, or assistance from outside investors, is entirely possible. Before you try to raise a loan or seek capital, give financial bootstrapping a try. The chances are you’ll be able to come up with creative ways to avoid giving away equity or pay high interest rates, while having more cash to build the business.
Sales the main keyword
sales the most imperative job. Be sure to over-deliver and not over-sell. Satisfied clients will come back for more and tell their friends, allowing you to reap sales with much less effort than the first time around. Of course, you must have long-term goals, but you should make “next week” your time horizon.
Manage the Payments
Invoice on time or even early. When the invoice is prepared, make sure you know to whom it should be sent (in the accounts payable department is best). But take care: the customer company may have special procedures for approving invoices, so follow their rules.
Ensure that your customers pay within thirty days. There’s no point in your new business playing banker to established firms. If you’ve made it plain at the outset that you have a 30-day settlement period, there should be no problem. Hesitating to contact the customer will cost you money.
Manage Purchases
As well as raising the bridge by selling, you can lower the water by buying―effectively. There are some big choices that will effect your cash and thus your seed money. Look closely at the relative costs of leasing vs. buying, or buying second-hand or re-conditioned equipment. Maybe bartering or reciprocal trade would be possible in equipment and services, or between the two.
Manage man power
Above all, your business will depend upon the quality of the people that work in it. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to have them on the payroll.
Students can be an excellent source of motivated contract workers. You may have a business school near you and its students, particularly graduate students, may be highly motivated to work on real-life projects. You don’t have to exploit these young people; you’ll probably be able to strike a mutually beneficial bargain, and they may prove to be excellent recruits later on. You’ll have an opportunity to gauge their worth in a working situation.