Nibletz Staff
One of the problems with starting up your very first business is that it can take some serious cash flow before you’ve even got enough to rent an office. It can be demoralising, but it’s important to remember that without money, you’re not going to make any income on your investment. That’s why more and more people are looking at frugal ways to start a business.
Sadly, when people speak of frugal businesses they usually think about home businesses or internet-based companies that don’t even have an office. While these are perfectly viable choices for most people, it doesn’t help if your aspirations are bigger. If you’re interested in more traditional ways of running a business (such as owning an office, a factory, a warehouse and so on) then here are a couple of frugal business practices that you should follow.
Don’t buy new, repair instead
If you’re going to start a business that requires some seriously expensive equipment, then never buy new from a manufacturer. You can make huge savings if you hire someone to repair equipment for you. If you have the knowledge to do it yourself, then you can take the DIY approach and purchase machines or equipment and repair it yourself. For instance, if you want to take over an old factory and restore it, then you’ll need to visit www.dynatect.com for more information about OEM parts and products. It can be difficult to try and find the right pieces to repair expensive machinery, which is why you need to network with these kinds of companies in order to make huge savings.
There are, however, times when buying used can be more hassle than buying new. A good example of this is with computers. Computers themselves are (from the perspective of a business) not very expensive unless you need top-end equipment. This article from www.theguardian.com will give you a good idea of what type of computer you need to buy. While there are plenty of businesses getting rid of old business stock (resulting in extremely cheap office computers on auction sites) it might be worth investing in something new that hasn’t been used and comes with some form of warranty.
There’s no such thing as industry standard
You’ve probably heard people saying that certain software tools are “industry standard”. A good example of this is in the design industry. Many people use Adobe’s Creative Cloud due to the number of software packages available and how useful they are to most users. Sadly, it can be incredibly expensive to pay every month for a business license, which is why you should turn to free software or cheaper alternatives.
Certain things are worth investing in, but if you only need lightweight tools to do a bit of design work or word processing, then there are cheaper alternatives to the industry standard ones. In fact, with so many startups popping up everywhere, sooner or later the cheaper and free alternatives will become the industry standard and expensive tools will be premium options for the larger companies that demand more features.
