Small business tips: How to make your funds go further
If you can successfully manage money as a keen and diligent entrepreneur, half the small business battle is already won.
If you can’t, there is no need to panic, as it is a trait that can be learned, provided you put a little dedication into learning how to master it.
As a business grows, evolves, transforms, managing money becomes much tougher, so making sure that you develop a solid foundation to work with and that you spearhead your company with a well-rounded skill set is a must.
Here are some tips to help you get more out of your budget and stretch your finances in a way that does not sacrifice quality.
Form a partnership
Partner ecosystems are the business model of the future. Co-investing with partner funds can be vital to support co-innovation for future growth with your new and existing channel partners. These funds include market development funds (MDF), sales campaign funds, rebates, and infrastructure funds to expand upon your mutual customer experience by offering a more complete and premium product or service.
Get everyone to market your brand
Raising brand awareness by getting all of your employees involved can be easier than you think; plus, it’s a great way to maximize your campaign spend.
For example, why not try:
- Empower your employees as brand advocates – Supplying your employees with merch and getting them to advertise your brand is a win-win. They get free stuff and your brand gets noticed!
- Encourage social media activity – Maintain a steady stream of social media content and encourage your employees to repost it, which will expand your social reach for no extra cost.
- Create brand ambassadors – Give employees the freedom to network and meet potential business partners when the opportunity arises. By positioning them as brand ambassadors, they become a valuable addition to your marketing effort.
Work with Specialists
If you needed to create some content but felt like being thrifty, or your budget does not quite stretch to hiring an elite videography team, you could reach out to specialists and try and strike up a deal.
You could offer them a platform in which to share their work and tap into your audience while you get to use their services for a reduced price.
Outsource
Wages can be extremely hard to manage for a small business owner, especially one that needs to take on more staff but cannot figure out a way to make it financially viable.
Outsourcing your efforts could prove to be a good solution to this issue, as it generally ends up being cheaper in the long term.
Say you needed to finish a project, but your workforce was stretched too thinly, hiring an external expert to help you complete only the task at hand could be a money-saving alternative to making an in-house hire.
Get an app
Budgeting apps can be a neat little addition to your money stretching toolkit, as they can help you visualize what needs to be saved, when it needs to be saved by, and the trajectory on which you are working towards.
It also fits neatly in the palm of your hand, so it’s not to be underestimated.