Starting a business can be a roller coaster of emotions. But there comes a day when the dust has settled where you have to start generating new business, but how do you grow your business when you haven’t got much revenue to work with?
Here are our top tips for scaling your startup when you need to stick to a tight budget.
1. The Gig Economy
Take advantage of the gig economy and use Freelancers to do tasks that require a skill set that you don’t have. You can hire experienced and skilled people to do once off tasks in your business cheaper than if you were to hire them on an ongoing basis.
2. Customer Value Proposition
You can create new customers by creating demand for your product. The best way to create demand for your product is to ensure that you communicate the value that your product will deliver to your target market. Customers need to be able to identify with your offering and see quickly and clearly how it will benefit them.
3. Targeted Marketing
Previously marketing required you to pay large amounts of money to advertise to a wide range of people in the hope that some of them would be interested in your product. However, today, with the internet and social media we can do targeted advertising that is specific to our target audience for a fraction of the price than traditional advertising costs. This creates a more even playing field for start ups and allows you to access advertising to your target market that is affordable.
4. Tap into your network
Whether it be personally or professionally you will have a large network of people from a broad and diverse range of backgrounds. Tap into this, these are people that already know, like and trust you. Ask for help in getting your foot in the door with suppliers, clients or even a mentor. Your network can be a powerful tool to help give you some early opportunities in your start up.
If you can’t afford a business coach, then consider finding a mentor (in your existing network) who can be a sounding board for ideas and help provide insight and guidance for your progress. They can also be a great person to help keep you accountable and focused on what you need to deliver.
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