Everyone who has tried building a business knows how challenging it can be. So while you’re thinking of giving up on your dreams because of the initial setbacks, it’s best to know that lots of people built their businesses to global standards amidst those challenges. Knowing that several people have had to grow their businesses on a shoestring budget is enough motivation for you to do the same.
Knowing how these people grew their businesses amidst those challenges is a necessary step you should take to replicate the feat. The fact is, the odds are high against small businesses succeeding, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. Even with the high competition, unfavorable regulations, and lack of resources, you can grow a business successfully if you’re determined to do so.
This article discusses the relevant strategies other small business owners used to grow their businesses on a budget. Read, learn, and ensure that you apply the lessons learned in your business.
8 Ways You can Use to Grow Your Business on a Shoestring Budget
1. Build Your Business on Quality Service Delivery
It doesn’t matter how strong and experienced your marketing team is; if you don’t deliver value to your customers, your business will struggle to grow. In fact, prioritizing profit over value has brought many businesses down when they are just getting started.
Most global brands today began by providing the market with what it lacked. Look at Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, etc.; their businesses are centered on customer satisfaction. Whatever it is you’re selling, ensure you never leave your customers with regrets over your services.
2. Cut Costs to Grow Business Budget
When asked, most successful business owners today will tell you that cost minimization was, and is still, part of their master plan in growing their business. However, it’s important to know that cutting costs doesn’t mean cutting corners or reducing value delivery. There are different ways to cut costs without compromising on product output or quality.
You can negotiate with suppliers, reduce operating expenses, adopt technology, and even make the most of your workspace in order to reduce costs. These enable you to channel the little funds you have into more productive ventures like quality production and marketing.
3. Review Your Marketing Strategy
Marketing can be done on a budget. If your marketing strategy requires you to spend a considerable portion of your revenue, then you really need to review it. It’s necessary that you compare the investments and returns of your marketing inputs and figure out what needs to be tweaked or dropped. The rule of thumb is to invest less than 10% of your entire budget on marketing. And every amount invested in marketing should yield a minimum of a 200% return.
This serves as a guide to help you review and improve your marketing and sales strategies. If email marketing yields better results than other marketing channels, then more budget should be allocated to it in the next budget schedule. When every penny spent on advertising yields significant returns, running a business on a budget becomes more profitable.
4. Operate Digitally
Taking some or all of your business operations online can help you grow your business on any budget. You should consider whether paying for office space is absolutely necessary before you do so. Can you operate from home, join a coworking space, or even do everything online? If yes, then it’s a no-brainer for someone who wants to grow their business on a shoestring budget to operate digitally.
The money initially budgeted for office space can be used to smooth operations and advertise the business to a wider audience. This is a digital age. You’re guaranteed to reach a wider audience on the internet than you can in your physical location. However, if your business must have a physical office, then you should consider using your home, or a coworking space as one. Alternatively, renting a very affordable office space might be the ideal thing to do.
5. Partnership
Partnership is another business strategy that can see your business grow beyond its limits, even with a very slim budget. The benefits of partnerships for small business owners are numerous. Having the right person or business as a partner can bring about more visibility, contacts, definite business plans, and of course, cost reductions.
Partnerships provide small businesses with the resources and technology they need to grow. These resources and technologies would normally have been too expensive for the small business to afford. However, in a partnership, you should look out for businesses that share similar values and goals with you. And if possible, the products or services should be complementary.
Recommended:
- How to Set Up an Efficient Cash Collection Process
- 10 Side Income Hustles for College Students Looking to Earn
- Top 7 Financial Habits for Young Adults Who Desire to be Rich
6. Do It Yourself (DIY)
Outsourcing every service in your business can have negative effects on the business budget. If your business must grow quickly, you need to handle certain tasks like cleaning and maintenance yourself. As a small business, saving costs by every possible means can be rewarding in the end. The costs of hiring cleaners, and paying for maintenance can be put into the marketing budget, thereby increasing the business chances of growth.
7. Train a Staff to Train Others
Human development is a factor you should take seriously if you’re willing to grow your business on a budget. Many global brands know the value of training their workers, and they don’t hesitate to do it. You shouldn’t compete with the big brands by training every member of your team at the same time. Rather, you can pick out one or two people and give them thorough training on how to take your business to the global stage.
The trained individuals would in turn train the remaining members of your company. This is a fantastic strategy that can equip every employee in your company to champion the company’s cause.
8. Outside Funding Might be Ideal
While it is great to work on a budget to maximize profit, overdoing it can restrict business growth. Knowing the right moment and how to source for more funding is an important skill every business owner must have.
There are many ways a small business can source funds in recent times. Bank loans, angel investors, credit cards, crowdfunding, grants, and even loans from family and friends are ideal sources of funds. However, before you decide to source for funds, study the terms of each option and know its possible impact on your business.
What Shoestring Budget are You Using to Grow Your Business?
The goal of every business is to maximize profit and minimize cost. Certain costs might look unavoidable until you take a second look and figure out some things can be cut. You’d be surprised at how much cost you can avoid when you apply the strategies in this article.
Hopefully, you’ve identified a few strategies for growing your business on a shoestring budget.
