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Creative ways to finance a business
by Tash Hughes
of Word Constructions (www.wordconstructions.com.au)
One stumbling
block for people starting a new business is money.
Either people perceive starting a business as being more
expensive than reality, or they genuinely don’t have
enough money to finance their business plan.
With a bit of
creativity, though, you can start or fund your business
with less cash and thus, less risk.
Creativity
Although you may
not consider yourself to be a creative person, you may
be surprised at the creative business ideas you come up
with. Use some of that creativity to save yourself time
and money whenever you can.
Being creative
just means thinking of different ways to approach the
same issue. The more you use your brain to think in
different ways, the more ideas you will get.
What can you do?
Identify what
you need to get started so you can find creative ways to
solve the problem. You need to be willing to talk to
people and ask for a deal, but make sure you are giving
something in return.
Such
arrangements can be made on a temporary or long term
basis, and are particularly useful when you are trialing
an idea as there is less financial risk involved.
Here are some
simple suggestions to consider:
- Barter your
services for a professional’s services
- Offer a
percentage of sales or profits for a reduced rent or
purchase cost
- Ask for a
discount in return for your assistance
- Find an
unusual source of materials or products (eg old lines,
closing down shops)
- Work with a
complimentary business to cut costs
- Consider an
answering service or virtual assistant instead of
staff
- Look for
trainees and students after experience
- Consider
starting at home and moving to an office in 6 months
when you have some income
- Share office
space with related businesses and give the office a
joint name
- Some business
networks provide you with a basic web page for much
less than your own site
- Find
unconventional office space – maybe an empty flat
above a shop or the unused garage around the corner
- Use your name
as the business name so you don’t have to pay to
register it
- Ask for a
payment plan for stock or materials so you don’t have
to find the cash at once
- Start by
selling your products through market stalls until you
build a cliental
- Borrow some
equipment or office goods from a friend or perhaps
someone travelling
Business money
ideas
Here are some
practical examples of how to save money when setting up
a new business.
Julie is a
gardener and wanted to start her own garden maintenance
service form home. To save costs and gain testimonials,
Julie arranged to look after the gardens of the local
accountant’s offices for 6 months in return for her
start up advice and accounting system.
Tom couldn’t
afford to rent a shop to sell his model train parts, but
he found a train enthusiast with a vacant shop front to
his warehouse. Tom used the shop front rent free and
gave the train enthusiast discounted train parts and
answered his phones at busy times.
Jill is a
carpenter and Bob is an electrician. Neither could
afford new business cards and business stationary on top
of the other set up costs, so they joined forces. Their
business cards are two sided (one side for Jill, one for
Bob) and their stationary just requires a tick next to
the appropriate business. Not only did they half these
costs, they are also able to advertise for each other
and reduce advertising costs.
Sally runs a
small publishing house and hates throwing out old
titles. Chris wanted to start a book stall at local
markets but couldn’t afford to buy enough books to
start. Sally gave the old titles to Chris instead of the
recycling truck. Chris paid 20% of sales to Sally, then
used his income to buy more books.
Jody wanted to
start work as a typist but didn’t want to work from
home. She wasn’t sure she’d get enough work to pay rent
on an office. Jody spoke to various local business
owners until she found John. John was renting an office
bigger than he needed, and couldn’t justify a full time
receptionist. Jody moved into the front of John’s office
to start her business in return for acting as his
receptionist as required and paying a nominal rent.
Tash Hughes is
the owner of
Word Constructions and is available to solve all
your business writing problems! From letters to
policies, newsletters to web content, Word Constructions
writes all business documents to your style and
satisfaction.
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