Business Startup

Starting a business with limited money and resources

Are you starting up a new business, but you're not rich and you don't have rich friends and family? You don't have a lot of cash, or a cash cushion?  But despite all that, you have a burning desire to have a company that is your own. You know in your heart that you can make it happen - but where to start??

 

Here’s a few questions that I’d ask you before you pull the trigger:

 

• Do you have expensive rent, or a big house payment?
• Do you have one or more nice vehicles with monthly loan or lease payments?
• Do you subscribe to every streaming service known to man?
• Do you like and expect fancy vacations and excursions?
• Do you frequent Starbucks for nice Lattes?
• Do you have the expectation that you will eat out regularly at restaurants and consider that mandatory.
• Do you love really nice clothes from expensive stores?

 

If you have answered yes to many of those questions, you need to do some soul searching and understand this:

 

If you are unwilling to make drastic changes to your lifestyle expectations, you should not waste your time pursuing your dream, and you should immediately identify a paying job that can keep you living the pleasant life you (and/or your partner) have come to demand.

 

Make sure you are willing to make major sacrifices today to achieve your entrepreneurial goals for tomorrow.

 

IF YOU HAVE LIMITED FINANCIAL RESOURCES, HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

 

• Your personal overhead needs to be as close to zero as possible. LOW PERSONAL OVERHEAD GIVES YOU POWER!
• Learn to take pride in the fact that the sacrifices you make today will have a huge payout in the future.
• If you have a spouse, significant other, or partner it is essential that you agree that these sacrifices are necessary - if not, start your job search!
• Do not commence your quest until and unless you have fully satisfied yourself that this commitment is achievable.

 

Why Low Overhead “Gives You Power”

 

Starting a new business is stressful.  Guaranteed.  It is even stressful for someone who has small-business experience, knowledge, money and resources.  But those who do not have experience or resources often can be exposed to unimaginable stresses that they never dreamed possible.  Want-to-be entrepreneurs many times hit the wall early on because of this phenomenon.

 

Starting a business is not different than many other ambitious objectives or projects.  You’ve made a plan with a timeline and budget and believe you have adequate resources to reach your early goals.  The practical reality is that in the real world it is not unusual for everything to take longer and cost more than you expect.  When you are starting your company on a shoestring without safety nets, the resulting business stresses will become personal stresses that further amplify the stress to the point of overwhelming.  Those that are burdened with a high personal overhead and significant financial commitments can find themselves in a no-win dilemma with inadequate cash flow to meet personal responsibilities and thus resultant pressure on the company resources critical to survival. Not good.

 

The entrepreneur with low personal overhead has a huge advantage in these situations. Survival is so much easier when you are confident you can survive for a significant amount of time, despite the timeline and budget challenges associated with your new startup. Low overhead gives you power.

 

 

……  Coming Soon:  Checklist for Startups