Yogesh M.A. of OOH Media graciously approached me to share my opinion on the question asked by him on his blog 'What types of challenges do Start-ups face?'
He states that due to lack of mentorship for promoters/entrepreneurs, it is important that the start-ups have one or many consultants/advisors, have marketing budgets for their products, must have teams for various departments etc.
While this is a whimsical set-up that a start-up can have, the bare truth is that the start-ups are usually not heavily funded. So to have all the above-mentioned things is luxury for most of the start-ups. Even the VC funding comes-in only after certain sustainable revenue targets are in place and the profits are reported. If you expand with all the above-mentioned things, then you are first increasing the overheads without starting revenues, and hence delaying the break-even level. Forget the profits!
So the real challenge is how to do all the above with a lean budget and still bring in the profits to lure external investment? This is the trick that should be mastered.
The good news is that the benefits of all these are still feasible with network marketing and having right spirited human capital who can help keep the structure lean by donning different caps as the need of the start-ups may-be [thereby avoiding big teams and departments]. Many smart start-ups are switching consciously towards Viral Internet marketing and Cloud Computing phenomenon to keep the costs at bay.
In my book WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Role of Women Entrepreneurs Towards more Inclusive Economic Growth, many women have started their ventures with lean budgets and are progressing well with the help of need-basis services, for e.g outsourced CFO services, smaller budgets for online and network marketing and freelancing development work, just to name a few. Book your copy of the book today to know more about the stories of these entrepreneurs – how they overcome many obstacles to realize their start-up dreams.
