When you are starting your own venture, be frugal. Whether you are putting in your hard-earned savings or have investor backing, take care of every penny you spend.
Cut down on:
- Fancy office setups & employee facilities
- Expensive hardware, software, equipment and gadgets - you don't need to flaunt
- Number of employees - work with small number of talented, all rounders
- Traveling and related expenses - use VoIP / Video conferencing
- All expenses!
Staying cashflow positive should be the number one priority for a startup. Bootstrapping is the best entrepreneurial model. Do whatever it takes to generate your monthly cashflow from the business. Set a limit for yourself - you will never go cashflow negative for more than 2 months.
And once you get the cash, be even more watchful. It's easy to waste money on promising opportunities / people / technologies.
Avoid temptation.
(Image courtesy Buster Benson)