5 Legit Ways That Can Help You Save When Starting Up

Save up when you start-up – there's something about this line, which is very soothing to the ears, as if, it's the easiest thing to do! But, it's just as painful when you move ahead from the rhyming and realize that saving and stating-up are two words which shouldn't even be used together in a sentence.

The time during the ideation process is probably the best time for a founder where s/he wants to do everything at once. The anticipation keeps you going. However, it's when you start the execution process that you realize what you've gotten into. You fall short of resources, and you realize, how everything you planned will not be achieved, let alone by you alone in a given time.

So amidst all this, how do you save money? You don't. And when that happens, your business will fail because of two reasons: inadequate capital and excessive cost overruns. Funding helps here, but then this new money tends to blind startups, which, as we have seen, is the reason behind the recent mark downs (Flipkart, Zomato) or even shutting down of many startups (TinyOwl). So, is there a way out?

We have made a list of 5 legit ways that can help you save when starting-up.

Go social

You definitely don't have the budget to spend millions just on marketing and sales or get a celebrity to endorse it. The only way you're going to get attention is by building an online presence. Use word of mouth and talk to friends you haven't talked in years to talk about your product. Your customer will be the promotion you could get.

Using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, you can build contacts and get promotion for your product the way you want.

Localize it

If your startup is based in your birth city, you have little to worry. You know the people and you know the language. Customize your startup with that in mind. Knowledge of local people and community is your forte. Knowing the place in and out, you'll know the "addas' where people usually hang out and target that audience.

Use interns

Take it from someone who worked with a startup of four people as an intern, there is no amount of work you can give to an intern that they wouldn't do. Interns are hungry for certificates to build their resumes and get experience, and the best part is that they work for free. This will not only help you save money, but also get an initial team which is dedicated and wants to perform under all kind of pressures.

Don't get carried away with marketing

With so many options and colours in front of you, the price of the logo of your choice wouldn't even cross your mind. You'll end-up spending much more than you planned.

Instead, go small. Hire talent from your college or do it yourself. You don't necessarily have to get professional help. Cut down on those super fancy, but super pretentious business cards. In the years to come, you wouldn't even recognize what your startup has evolved into and the more you spend now, more stupid you'll feel when you'll have to let it go.

Find a partner

Entrepreneurship is a lonely job, where you'll have to work alone for hours and though that prospect sounds awesome to me, there are some thing you'll do better when you have a mate with you. Having a co-founder isn't about getting a partner to curb that loneliness; it's about finding the person who fills up the gaps in the company and it will also help with financing the business.

If you're good at the technical stuff, but shy when it comes to public speaking, look for someone who could charm even Hitler. If you're good at accounting, find someone who's creative and will help set marketing strategies.

So, here are five simple ways that should get you going on saving some money in your initial days of entrepreneurship. If you have any other idea, then do share it with us on our official Facebook page Entrepreneur India.