The start of the year is the perfect time to embrace new habits and to set goals. Turning entrepreneurial ambitions into a thriving small business is not just a matter of daring to try, but also knowing how to make the most of a limited budget. Spotcap, the fastest online credit platform, reveals six essential steps for building a small business on a budget.
- Match exceptional skills to market opportunities
Building a business is about both being passionate as well as realistic. Matching individual skills to current market opportunities is essential to avoid hastily entering the wrong market or career path. Often, individual skills are those that friends and family ask for if they need to get something fixed. Take the time to learn about your potential customers, and build your business plan around their needs and desires. The best market opportunities are often the services that people don’t want to do themselves, e.g. gardening, cleaning and even bookkeeping.
- Boost your business plan with free expert advice
A strong business plan can set a business on a course for success from the start. Converting your idea into an actual business plan allows you to test drive it. Governmental organizations and administrative bodies provide free expert advice for entrepreneurs. Even the most successful business owners, such as young entrepreneur Evan Spiegel, who developed the mobile app Snapchat, know how beneficial it can be to get a different perspective on things. Even if you are running your business alone, find someone who can study your plan objectively to point out possible weaknesses and highlight areas of strength. It’s always a good idea to talk to people who disagree.
- Be a soldier of finance
From now on, it’s all about cash. This might sound like a no-brainer, but many of today’s digital heavyweights started off without a monetization strategy in place. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are just a handful of examples and there are countless other companies out there building up free user bases, hoping that they’ll eventually turn into a lucrative source of money. If you want to start a business on a budget, you have to earn money from day one. Determine your expenses and rank them. Calculate expenses for each step and keep in mind the impact on your business.
- Embrace alternative funding opportunities
If you are certain that your product will attract broader interest, approach websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo to set up a crowd funding campaign. Create a campaign which sets a tone of confidence and focus on winning over the people who matter most to your business. Crowdfunding allows a wide pool of investors to approach entrepreneurs with little restrictions. If your business is already established then you can also seek other funding opportunities to make strategic investments. Online business lending platforms often grant access to funding within hours and cater especially to the needs of small business owners.
- Back to basics
Renting a fabulous office with all the bells and whistles is out of the question. Starting a home-based business should be your go-to move. An overpriced cubicle in an overcrowded co-working space should not stand between you and hard work. Unavoidable expenses should be kept to a minimum. Compare expenses, identify the areas where you can trim costs and seek alternatives. Make adjustments as needed, especially when you notice that you are spending more than your budget permits. Try to optimize payment terms with suppliers and negotiate benefits.
- Chat it up
To achieve brand awareness, friends and family can support you with word-of-mouth advertising. With little capital to invest in marketing, your business needs to be visible online to receive first client inquiries. Promote your campaigns with social networks, like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, where free publicity is waiting to be grabbed. This gets the ball rolling. Reach out to local journalists, bloggers and other influencers to boost your visibility. Offering free initial consultation meetings is a good way to convince potential customers. In smaller markets, getting on friendly terms with the competition can also be a good step for your business.
About Spotcap:
Spotcap enables small business owners who have been operating for more than one year to grow their business by providing fast and flexible financing. The company has developed a sophisticated and dynamic decision process assessing the real-time performance of businesses to grant short term loans. Spotcap was launched in Madrid in September 2014 and is led by Toby Triebel and Jens Woloszczak in Berlin. The team – currently consisting of 40 credit and online experts – is expanding its operations geographically. Spotcap is backed by Rocket Internet – the world’s leading global internet platform outside of the US and China.
Read more about Spotcap: www.spotcap.com