Ryan Wood

As a young entrepreneur, the last thing you want to do is to strangle your savings account to launch an endeavor. We 100% understand the stress that that situation can bring upon you. With that being said, here are ten ways that you can cut costs in your start-up business/organization! Enjoy.

1.) Utilize the public library. We need to stay educated. But with education comes a high price, right? Well, not necessarily! In most cities and towns located around the nation there is at least one public library. The public library is FREE and it provides you with thousands of pieces of literature that most will spend thousands of dollars on.

2.) Outsource your repetitive work needs. Why hire on full-time employees with average skill sets in multiple categories when you can outsource your specific need to an expert in the field who does freelance work? You’ll save hundreds, even THOUSANDS of dollars over time and will even see greater work production and quality. This will also save you in having to establish additional salaries and will only force you to pay out when additional work is needed.

3.) No meeting with clients= no need for an office. There is no sense in paying rent fees for an office if you’re never meeting with clients. You can either work from home, Panera, Starbucks, etc and save THOUSANDS of dollars over a period of just a single year. Most places even offer free WiFi and can provide you with meeting rooms at zero cost to you!

4.) Oh, the beauty of Google Docs. Google docs are perfect! This is a free way to collaborate on projects, stay organized, and can be accessed from anywhere with it’s cloud storage (no network needed).

5.) Carefully plan your business traveling expenses. Using webinars, Skype for video conferences, etc. can dramatically cut down on the costs you typically spend on traveling all over. This also saves your precious time; which also equals money!

6.) Ask for free stuff. What’s the worst that can happen besides hearing “no”? You’d be surprised on the number of free services and helping hands you’d get by simply not being afraid to ask for it. Remember, being a cheap skate in the start-up stages really isn’t being a cheap skate at all; it’s being smart.

7.) Find some college interns. Finding some hungry, driven college interns to help you out is a great way to get things done. By doing this you benefit in task execution and they benefit from it by gaining experience, possible college credits and another source to add to their resume.

8.) Cloud storage over paper filing. The best thing you could possibly do for your storage needs is to use Dropbox. Face it, using paper files gives you a headache, consumes your time in creating new folders and costs you an arm and a leg to constantly be purchasing more file folders and cabinets. On the other side of this, cloud storage options makes information accessibility much easier for your employees.

9.) Eliminate unnecessary costs. Make sure to review all of your monthly subscriptions and commitments. There is no reason to pay extra for things that you aren’t utilizing to the full capacity. Plus, you’ll be surprised on the number of things you probably don’t utilize AT ALL.

10.) Do things yourself. Why hire on extra employees when you can do most of the things yourself? Sure, it may take a little more of your time, but it will save you thousands of dollars annually on additional salaries. There’s a time and place for additional hiring, but if you’re in the infant start-up stage, that time isn’t now.

If for some reason you aren’t familiar with who Saint Paul is, let me drop it on you. He’s the man who literally went through Hell on earth for Christ. He was whipped, beaten, and thrown in jail numerous times for the message of the Cross. No man in history, besides Jesus himself, has ever shown such dedication and perseverance for the Gospel.

One thing Paul was phenomenal at was his ability and divine passion to bring his message to “all the peoples of the earth.” Day after day, Paul would stay completely focused on his mission and plan to make sure that every single person around him was under the influence of what he had to say and was completely aware of his message. Nothing could stop him; literally, nothing but death.

How does this relate to you as an Entrepreneur and leader? Well, in every way, really. Your job, day in, day out, is to make sure that your message, story and mission are known to the people around you. Your are to be the evangelist of your product and/or service!

Make sure you’re spending time focusing on improving your communication skills to ensure that your message is spelled out clearly and spend time studying the habits and actions of those people like Saint Paul.

If you can stay focused on learning and developing your ability to articulate a picture via words and action, you’ll be successful in your endeavors.

“The virtue lies in the struggle, not in the prize.” -Richard Monckton Milnes

Today, if you’re walking through a path that seems like there is nothing but struggles and stumbles, try and keep your eyes fixed on the end goal. As you are going through it, your deepest and truest virtue will shine brightly. 

“The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret to outward success.” -Henry Ward Beecher

Unless you are willing to take a step outside of your comfort zone, it will be impossible to accomplish anything that is worth being called great. So as you go about your day, take captive of the ideas that are placed on your heart, search them out, and don’t be afraid to act upon them!