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DQ News: The Safest Small Business Startup Strategies Are Virtual, Guerrilla, and Flexible

Our continually struggling economy, at least on ground-level, is sending aspiring entrepreneurs mixed messages. On one hand, there’s enormous incentive to stake your claim at a time when competition is low and human resources are high.On the other hand, the still-unknowable future state of our national and global economies is enough to intimidate even the most ardent of entrepreneurs.

While we often can’t make up our minds as to whether to invest our capital into budding businesses or stow it away in StorageMart lockers for fear of an economic Armageddon, there are ways to make your enterprising dreams come true while minimizing the risk of these uncertain times:

Virtualization

The lingering frailty of the real estate market means that at any moment another crisis could lead to rising rent as mortgages skyrocket. For start-ups renting office space, this could devastate the budget for monthly expenses. In addition, the cost of furnishings and supplies takes their toll on limited income too. Considering the prevalence of cloud computing and mobile Internet connectivity, start-ups should forgo a centralized work environment in favor of a remote operation. The benefits of an office fail to apply to young small businesses in an age when the Internet is the primary means people research goods and services.

Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing tactics center on the idea that the modern public responds better to seemingly off-the-cuff promotions and brand awareness. It’s also a conveniently cheaper way of executing large-scale marketing campaigns than traditional means such as television and radio. Guerrilla marketing takes some serious creativity, because, in essence, its got to be a purely original approach to spreading awareness about your goods and services. It does, however, keep you from having to invest large volumes of cash up front for more mainstream campaigns through pricey marketing agencies.

Flexibility

The main objective is to make your business practices elastic in their necessity. Young businesses need the ability to change pace or strategy without the added expenses of increases in marketing and further investment in company assets. You’re going to want to change some of the things you do because every small business start-up makes mistakes. You want to make sure these inevitable mistakes don’t result in major setbacks due to the added cost of fixing them when your business model is set in stone.

Don’t hold back on a great small business idea at a time when the best thing you can do for yourself and for your country is to do your part to help get the economy’s wheels turning again. But at the same time, don’t set yourself up for potential failure by investing large amounts up front when you can succeed just as easily by practicing a Spartan business lifestyle. Offices and expensive marketing can always come later.

About the Author: This article was contributed by Riley Kissel.

Photo Credit: takomabibelot

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