Money can’t buy you happiness, but it could buy you something near it. It could provide you comfort and convenience. It can afford you many shortcuts in life and can afford to buy you a slice of time. For businesses, allocated appropriately, it could mean efficient and fast operations.

For start-up businesses, it is good to be frugal. But frugality should not result in shabbiness and inefficiency. Don’t do everything on your own when you could afford to pass on your burden to others who could do it better. Instead, use the time you can save for more productive things.

Here are a few things you should consider budgeting for with your limited funds.

Legal retainer

Businesses, however small, could be faced with different grievances and complaints. Although not all of these escalate to court cases, it best to be prepared. And even if you don’t have court cases, a lawyer could advise you how to deal with complaints that would satisfy consumer rights and your right as a business.

Your lawyer could also take charge of the legal processes needed for your business to operate. These include ensuring that licenses and permits needed are secured and updated as needed, and legal consents of parties involved in case you are using community resources or data gathering.

A retainer is your fund commitment to a lawyer that would only be considered expended if the lawyer had rendered service. This is a safe arrangement as it would ensure you will have a lawyer for your needs, and at the same time, the funds will be refunded to you if the service is not used. At least that’s the ideal arrangement, but there might be some lawyers who would require initial payment. So you could make use of this for your minor operation legalities.

Construction contractors

Do-It-Yourself projects are popular nowadays. But for the convenient and safe facilitation of construction needs, hire a general contractor. In this way, you don’t have to constantly oversee the building progress, the procurement of materials, and whatever concerns. You just need to meet with your contractor and check the site maybe once a week. Use your time to focus on your projects.

Aside from saving time, leaving construction necessities to contractors will also ensure that your structure is compliant to building standards. You could, of course, research all of these on your own, but if it’s not your expertise, it will take you some time to familiarize yourself with specifications and requirements. It is best to leave it to people who do these things for a living.

You might be tempted to just hire people to do specific parts of the construction to save money, but in the long run, it could cost you more. Your hired experts would not be looking at the bigger picture because it’s not their responsibility. If something fails in your DIY parts, which could affect the entire structure, you will have to redo everything.

Outsourcing maintenance and security services

Large companies can already afford their maintenance crew. These would include experts in plumbing, electrical needs, and other such essentials in a business operation. However, small businesses don’t have to directly employ people for this. Some companies offer technical experts just like how janitorial services are available through agencies.

Some start-ups might think that this is not necessary as maintenance needs are few and far between. But check out the companies that offer bulk rates if you employ them for a certain period. It is also for your safety and convenience because sometimes water and electricity problems are not detected unless a problem already affects operations. If you have regular checkups, then you can immediately remedy problems before they aggravate.

Information Technology expert

Your business may be as non-technology related as basket weaving or a Laundromat. However, in this world of technology, you would need to be competitive, and the competition happens mostly in information technology. Who can reach a wider market would depend on how well they could disseminate your message. Who can manage operations would depend on how well they could organize their business information for analysis and action. You don’t have to fully employ an IT expert, but you could contract out special services such as creating a database or linking networks that would easily connect you to suppliers and markets.

Funding could be limited at the start of a business. So be smart in allocating your resources. You could devote more time to the core matters of the business instead of wasting it on trivial matters other people could do for you.

Meta title: Leveraging Your Start-Up with Smart Spending

Meta description: Don’t be too tight with your money when you are just starting your business. Give more value to the time you save and devote to the more crucial matters in your operations.