Becoming a frugal startup executive as a woman, both personally and professionally, is sometimes essential. The first few months are always the most challenging.
Fortunately, this post can help. It looks at some of the ways you can make your personal and professional life leaner, allowing you to expand more and keeping your enterprise afloat.
Embrace Free Tools
Start by embracing free tools. Don’t pay for premium services unless you absolutely have to.
These days, there are countless free tools thanks to the growth of AI. Artificial systems are allowing more rote work to be done by machine than ever before, so use it to your advantage, even if it isn’t quite as good as having a real person.
Hire Smart
Another pro tip is to hire smart instead of going big. You want to find people who are good at most of what your business does instead of paying for expensive specialists.
Hiring smart usually means selecting people who can provide you with 80% of the value you require at 20% of the cost. Even if they aren’t perfect, they’re often good enough to get started and can help you generate real money later on.
Test Cheaply
You also want to test cheaply. Don’t be one of these startups that’s forever spending a future on validating products.
Instead, get something basic working, like an MVP, and push it out the door. Don’t wait.
Side Hustle In Your Spare Time
If you have any spare time and it won’t take energy away from your primary role, involve yourself in a side hustle. Find something you can do that consumes your skills, like writing or mentoring, that can provide a bit of extra cash every month.
Sell Your Old Gadgets
Similarly, you can sell your old gadgets. iPhones often go for quite a bit of money, even if used, allowing you to build up cash quickly if that’s what you want.
Once you start selling things you no longer need or use, it changes your mindset. Suddenly, you take on a more frugal attitude to money that percolates into everything else you do.
Share Costs
You could also look for ways to share costs with other people while you launch your startup. For instance, you could carpool with other people, or get some roommates to share the rent. You could also use co-working spaces with others and split the bill: most landlords will never know.
Once you start sharing costs, you soon discover how many opportunities there are to live inexpensively.
Shift Your Mindset
Finally, it’s a good idea to shift your mindset when it comes to frugality. Being cheap isn’t an act of deprivation, it’s about freedom. The less you spend, the less you need, and the less you have to work to get what you want.
Furthermore, the dollars you save are going into your startup. Avoiding unnecessary expenses means you always have something left over for your business that you’re trying to start. You have a personal buffer that allows you to do more.
