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How I Run Three Businesses
On Less Than $1,000 Per Month
As a business start-up coach and trainer, it is very important that I not only "talk the talk" but
also "walk the walk".
This goes for showing you how cost-effective it can be today to run your own business.
Let me show you how I run three distinct business enterprises for total expenses under $1,000 per month.
My three businesses are:
My Chicago-based live
business start-up coaching company
My Internet-facilitated
business start-up coaching company
My business growth consulting partnership
The table below shows my primary business expenses and how I keep them as low as possible
EXPENSE ITEM |
COST REDUCTION TECHNIQUE |
| Office Space Rental |
After sharing outside office space for seventeen years, I moved home last year after we
completed a partial renovaton of our house. This move lowered my rent from $900 per month to $0. When I need to meet
with a client, I rent an office by the hour at a nearby building.
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| Telephone Service |
I finally got tired of ever increasing local phone charges and installed Voice Over Internet service
18 months ago. The equipment was free after rebate, and I've reduced my bill for two phone lines plus long
distance service from $200+ per month to $56 per month.
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| Marketing Expenses |
As you might image I use the Web for marketing as often as I can. I host three websites, use
an e-mail transmission service, connect a shopping cart program to one of my websites and use an online
credit-card clearing service - all for less than $200 per month.
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| Publicity |
Gettting continuous coverage of your business by the media is critical to your business's growth. Most
large-city publicity firms have swank offices and charge monthly retainers of $2,500 and up. I get great
media coverage using a home-based pro, who charges well under a $1,000 per month.
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| Office Supplies |
Because I live in the third largest city in the U.S., there is strong competition among Big Box office
supply stores. I use online coupons, grand opening specials and 2-for-1 sales to keep my annual office supply expenses
down to less than $500.
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| Printing |
I print postcards, brochures and training materials for my own companies. And all of my start-up
clients work with my service providers to design eye-catching identity materials. We all save on printing
these wonderful promotional pieces by taking advantage of frequent sales at online sites, such as vistaprint.com.
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| Business Support Services |
Over the years, I've assembled a team of 8 outstanding service providers, who not only keep my three
companies humming, but also support my business
start-up clients. I keep my cost of using these specialists
down by trading services (known as barter); getting free time in exchange for sales leads; and by very clearly
defining each project so as to require the minimum amount of their time.
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| Travel |
Unlike my time as a corporate marketing executive, I now travel on business when I want to. I know
how expensive it can be to travel to another city for even just one day. So, before I jump on a plane to go
see a potential customer or a prospective partner, I use
e-mail, phone conferencing and even video conferencing
(some Kinkos stores offer this service for a fee) to get to know the other person and better understand what
they need and want.
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| Office Furniture & Equipment |
In a nutshell, my strategy in this expense category is: buy used! Large companies redecorate their offices
frequently, and businesses move or go out of business quite often. These changes lead to a lot of used (and
sometimes like new) office furniture and equipment being up for sale all the time. I use two sources to find
like-new or "slightly used" desks, office chairs, filing cabinets, conference tables, overhead projectors, etc.
Number one is a used office furniture dealer in a Chicago suburb that I found out about at a chamber of commerce
meeting. My number two source is to read the "Auction Mart" ads in the Chicago Tribune sunday paper each week.
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