What a cool feeling when you’re working on your own business…
One of the best feelings ever, right?
Do you pull all nighters too, like me?
But you gotta be careful, there is a dark side…
It’s all too easy to get your credit card out spending money on things you don’t actually need…
Often it’s hard to know what you do actually need, what will help your business build and grow…
Make no mistakes ” business cash flow” is the main cause of business failure…I’ve been there…
Here are some tips on what you don’t have to spend money on too soon..
An all singing and dancing website with bells and whistles
Stay away from this, unless the website is designed and actively made to achieve sign-ups and rank excellently for search terms don’t waste tens of thousands of dollars on design…
Of course you need a website, but one that converts, KEEP IT SIMPLE.
An office
It’s tempting to think you need an “office” to be a “real” business, but do you really? In this day and age we can work remotely very easily, that’s smart. Meetings can be conducted in swanky hotels or client venues…
Having said that having a barrier between work and home life is essential, so if you do work from home be sure everyone knows your boundaries and your “I’m at work” time…
Don’t invest in physcial locations until you really can step up and afford it, it can be a huge expense on your business…
Glossy artwork and fancy brochures
You’ll get pitched to that you need all this fancy artwork to get going, but you don’t…
Just get some business cards first and go from there…
No kidding I have boxes of old leaflets (THOUSANDS) sitting under my desk never used…
Branded stuff works well once you have disposal cash…
Advertising in magazines and newspapers
I would stay well clear of this until you are generating sales from good solid relationships you have built up…
Instead use Facebook ads or Google ads linked to a cool offer landing page on your website… far better return on investment…
Networking
Yes do this, build relationships, but don’t throw money at events unless there is opportunity to build relationships…
Definitely don’t pay to have a stand at a conference until you have a stunning sales process in place to capture leads… you’ll be disappointed… and waste your money..
Employees
This can catch you out big time… in fact the step from going from a single person to having a team is tricky…
In the short term you can use freelancers, when you feel you are generating enough new business to warrant a new member of staff, then move… BUT NOT UNTIL you are generated those sales…
Cheers for now.
Chris