Since I own a marketing company and work particularly with people who are new to the business world, or who are having difficulty getting their companies off of the ground, I have had a lot of conversations that go somewhat like this:
Me: “What have you done to advertise or market your company?”
Owner: “I have been telling everyone I meet about my idea.”
Me: “What is your marketing budget?”
Owner: “I really don’t have a lot of money to invest.”
At this point, I always tell the potential business owner to get out before he or she even begins.
Why? Because owning a company is an expensive venture.
That’s not to say that you can’t start one up on a small budget. No, I did just that, and I worked hard and to this day most of the money that I make gets reinvested into the company for supplies, equipment, marketing (yes, even marketers have to market!), advertising and other business related expenses. Am I making money? Sure. Do I buy new clothes with that money rarely? (guess it is a good thing that I’m not big into shopping, then!)
In reality, most of the money that I, and the majority of business owners make, in the first at least few years goes back into the company. And if you are starting a business and you say that you have no budget with which to get that business up and running, you have no business starting a business.
It’s the facts, ma’am. Most businesses fail within the first five years. Many of these fail because of lack of funding. if you don’t have money to start, you will not have money in three months when the bills are due and you are stills scrambling to build a client base.
You must have some backup funds going in so that you can support your company in the new days, when no one knows your name and you have to get out there and make a name for yourself.
So, if you are considering starting your own business, I’m going to say this: You need at least a budget of $5000 no matter what you are doing, and that is if you have all of the supplies and equipment that you need. So, you want to be a web designer? You need five grand. Want to be a dog walker? Uh huh, five grand. But, you say, how can walking dogs be so expensive? (And honestly, five grand will barely cover it all!!!)
Join me tomorrow and I will tell you!
Oh and if you have been following me the last week or so you know I have been stating I’d like to see some more blog participation, meaning people posting comments and joining in on the discussion (really, don’t we all learn best when people share their experiences?)
If you recently began a business from home, tell us: What was your budget? And was it enough?