Business Loans

If you dream of starting your own business, you’re surely looking into the costs of opening up that first office. And the one thing that might give you pause is the cost involved. Most start-up businesses fail within their first three years (out of those that get beyond that point the vast majority of them succeed), and this failure has to do with not being able to cover expenses for one reason or another.

This is the age of the Internet, and the Internet has made possible the virtual office. The vast majority of start-up businesses today don’t need the traditional bricks-and-mortar office(s). You just need all of your employees to have two things: 1) a computer with high-speed Internet access, and 2) a cell phone. Forget about a land line.

So, the first thing you can do to save yourself substantial amounts of money is to forget about opening an office at all. Just set aside one private room in your home, and you’re in business. All of your employees can work from home (or the local coffee shop), too. You just saved a big fat pile of money on office overhead and commute costs. You can use a good webinar service company to hold meetings. All you need to pay for here is outfitting any of your employees with the software they’ll need, a webcam and microphone if they don’t have them, etc. You’ll find that the majority of your employees already have most of the stuff they need, anyway. Only provide it to those who don’t have it.

And what more can you do? Plenty:

Consider using MacIntosh computers instead of Windows-based. They have fewer IT problems. If you still want to use PCs, check into the less-expensive-than-Windows Linux OS.

Re-think the usual compensation plans for your employees. Even for people like your secretary, consider paying a small base salary but offer a very generous performance bonus. If you want to offer health benefits, instead give them money to open their own MSA account if they choose as a “hiring bonus”. Instead of offering retirement plans, throw in a free meeting with a financial planner to everyone when they get their bonus checks, so they can allocate their own retirement savings, and maybe offer profit sharing in the company.

For your top performers you could even offer to pay for their car for them. This method of compensation means you are paying mostly for performance but you retain employees at the same time, as their best interests align with yours and they grow a sense of loyalty. This will enable you to easily ferret out those who don’t love their jobs, and when you do be quick to fire them.

If you live in an expensive area like the Northeast or California, try to hire people who live in the South or the Midwest, like people from Iowa, Wisconsin, the Carolinas, etc. They won’t care about a bigger base pay because they don’t have the huge living expenses.

Don’t sign up for a toll-free number. People today have so many cheap/unlimited long distance phone plans that they won’t care if they call you on a regular long distance call.

Outsource your mundane tasks like book-keeping (other than your personal secretary) to foreigners who can work very cheaply. You will not be ripping them off with cheap wages, either: $100 a month goes a long, long way in a nation with a rather low standard of living. You can find outsourcing companies online after doing a Google search. Email or call them for more information. They will look forward to working with you and your business.

Use cheap/free Internet methods of marketing and advertising as much as possible: articles, YouTube videos, Article Video Robot, podcasts, opt-in e-newsletters, PPC advertising, and the like. Find a couple of people who are good at this and make them part of your staff–forget the PR firms or multimedia marketing companies.

Every two or three business quarters, meet with your vendors and try to work a discount deal. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Always–anything that you can possibly do online, do online. The savings benefits of the virtual office are staggering. It’s the way to go if you’re a new start-up business.

Aaton Maston writes family money saving tips for Cheapspenders, which is a money saving website that offers tips and advice on saving with grocery coupons, starting a small start up such as a food business, and much more..