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Are you considering starting your own business but have no idea how to estimate costs? Worried about getting a loan or how to approach investors?
In last week’s Cool Tools Blog Series, we shared with you how to determine your commercial mortgage costs for those of you that might be considering a commercial property purchase.
This week, I’d like to share with you a site that I think is so super cool—one that I use as a resource constantly.
It’s called www.score.org and it’s a free, non-profit website and resource to small businesses and entrepreneurs looking for help with their small business needs. Whether you’re start up or an established business, this is an excellent resource for you as you are planning your office space in Austin.
If you access the Business Toolbox on Score’s website, it offers tons of information, workshops, podcasts, videos, etc. on how to run your business.
One of the podcasts is called Estimating Expenses for Your Start Up.
This podcast will help you determine three ways to get reasonable business costs.
- Competitive quotes
- Get quotes from competitors to help you identify what the industry is charging for expenses such as PR, marketing, internet, phone, etc. Score.org suggests that you get three competitive quotes for each expense so you can get an average.
- Break it down, roll it up
- Do an actual break down of a real life business expense such as travel.
- Example: If you have 2 sales people that travel twice per month, estimate travel costs for airfare, hotel, cab fare, food, etc.
- You can also break it down for other expenses such as shipping, printing, etc.
- Industry resources
- Use your network! Shoot an email to a network contact and ask “So tell me, what percentage of your sales do you spend on marketing?” This candid feedback can help you determine costs.
- Use resources such as Linked In to post a query and have business professionals respond with advice.
Using these three suggestions will help you in determining your business costs and expenses. This will allow you to come up with a budget and also determine how much money you’ll need to get your start up off the ground!
Best of luck in your new adventure! Once you’ve determined your expenses for your start up and are ready to go, give Austin Tenant Advisors a call and we’ll help you locate the perfect office space in Austin!
