With a virus still rampaging around the world and many resulting in job losses or reduced income, 2021 just might be the best year to initiate a business startup.
Along the lines with a plan and product, one of the many elements to be aware of for starting a business startup is costs; these pillars to a business would fall apart without each other and cost is at times the foundation of it.
There’s more to being a business owner than getting the lighting right in your office and using the right furniture that fits your body posture, many businesses put their focus on the wrong things and end up neglecting the vitals.
If you’re a new entrepreneur, you might find it daunting to pin down on one startup essential to pour the majority of your funding. So. What is that one small business startup cost that you should expect to spill out for?
Here’s not one but a few you can expect.
Marketing
It’s a “need”, not a “want”. These marketing materials might include physical objects like banners and business cards, but it involves more than that.
There’s also the digital version of it where you’ll be setting up paid ads and paying for creative producers to nurture your brand image. To strike a balance between business and marketing needs, most suggest keeping it below 10% of your total budget.
You can in fact do the bulk of your small business marketing, for free, but the larger you grow, it is likely that you’d need to start affording platforms that could moderate the large audience that you have.
Although, due to social media and other online marketing strategies and revolutions, advertising costs are often much lower for small businesses just starting now than they would have been 20 years ago.
It’s never too late to initiate a marketing plan and you’d be surprised to see the various resources out there that are accessible to you.
Website
A website is the people’s window to learn about your business. A bad one is similar to a bad engine and simply gets you nowhere. Websites have to look professional and be easy on the eyes; apart from that navigation and the details matter as it’s what keeping your site visitors put.
Services like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly make website creation much more accessible than before. Cost-effective and sometimes even free, it’s a good starting platform; however, a domain would still have to be purchased along with plans to maintain your website.
These content management systems (CMS) are sometimes free but premium plans will still be needed to take it to the next level.
Never underestimate the power of a good website and especially in terms of how far it can take your business.
Consultants
Let’s face it, we all need help at some point or another. It’s tempting to be a one-man team and handle all aspects of a business by yourself but working with an expert or professional may be an investment-worthy to splash your cash on.
For example, certified public accountants can explain the different legal structures, help you choose an employee benefit program, and ensure you’re fulfilling your responsibilities as an employer. When tax season rolls around, they’ll prepare your tax returns and help you save on your taxes.
You don’t need to hire a full-time accountant either. But it’s often a good idea to consult with your accountant on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis to review your financial statements, and for general financial guidance and advice.
Travel
This might come off as a no-brainer, but when you’re off and rolling as a full-time business owner, work never seems to stop. If you have a consulting business or have to visit customers directly, you will be traveling a lot and have to be mindful of the cost there.
Factor in the price of transportation, food, and lodging — multiply these costs if you have multiple employees traveling. However, try to keep it at a minimum so that you can allocate your revenue towards another business essential. You wouldn’t want to have travel expenses take up more than half of what you have the budget for.
If you do have to travel, sign up for business credit cards where you can earn flight miles for every amount spent. Lastly, keep the luxuries for an actual vacation and skip the business class and first class spending nonsense.
Insurance
Insurance all serve one purpose – to protect you from future disasters. Your business needs the safety you give to your health, home, and car.
You need it because, without it, you might have a payout of your own pocket for potential damages or even legal claims that would not only hurt your business but also your own finances as well.
There are many business insurances out there, which also include protection from lawsuits and disasters, the type that your business needs depend on your business, industry, number of employees, etc. Among the insurance types include:
- General liability insurance
- Commercial property insurance
- Workers compensation insurance
- Errors and omissions insurance
To top it all off,
Start-up costs can vary among the different types of businesses as all are different. They require different costs because restaurants have different requirements than clothing stores.
It’s all in detail of a plan as it’s the map that takes all considerations of start-up costs. Underestimating or overestimating your numbers can create false expectations in your profit and capabilities
Launching a new business can be invigorating to say the least. However, getting caught up in the initial excitement can result in neglecting the little things and abruptly, failure. Observe and consult before you make a major business decision as you never know what others and experts have in store for you to turn your business around.
Planning your business budget is one of the most stressful parts of entrepreneurship. But being realistic about estimating your business start-up costs and how much money you may need to borrow will go a long way toward getting your company up and running.
Finsource Solution was established to champion SMEs of all kinds and to ensure that they meet their financial goals.
With a clean loan, property loan, 2 in 1 financing, gap financing, and invoice financing up their sleeves, click here to learn how Finsource Solution can be the key to your business goals.
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