Launching a Startup on a Shoestring

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If you’re trying to get a startup company off the ground, chances are you don’t have a lot of money to do it with – and the money you do have would be better spent on R&D and marketing.

So what are some of the ways you can stretch your startup dollars? Office space, phone service and business software are just a few of the places you can look for cost savings.

For office space, consider a coworking space – an office shared with startups just like yours. That will give you a place to park your laptop, Internet access and a conference room – and an instant network of other entrepreneurs – at below market rates.

For phone service, VoIP services like Skype and Google Voice can give you international dialing for just a few dollars a month.

Another place to save is on productivity software. You can plunk down $200 for a full-featured version of Microsoft Office – or consider alternatives like the online Office 365 offering, Google Docs or even an open source offering like OpenOffice or LibreOffice.

And those are just a few of the ways you can stretch your critical startup funds.

Adapted from The Frugal Entrepreneur’s Starter Kit at Small Business Computing.