Starting up Your Business in Tough Economic Times: Eight Ways to Save Money

Susan L Reid

1. Don't plan (too far) ahead.

Procrastination can actually be helpful when it comes to starting up a business in tough economic times. When the flow of money slows, inventory piles up, and competition for your dollars becomes fierce. Now

is the time to shop around for bargains on office furniture, computers, fax machines, and other large line items.

2. Go to estate and garage sales.

Unfortunately, many people right now are having trouble paying their mortgages and need to get out from under piles of debt quickly. You can save money while helping out those who need to liquidate items for cash by buying many things for your home office at estate and garage sales. Look for bookcases, filing cabinets, desks, lamps, paper cutters, staplers, paper, desk pads, and other home office items.

3. Be card smart.

With banks being bought up and changing hands, be aware of varying charges and transaction fees when you use ATM and credit cards. With banks in flux, now is the time to shop aggressively for the best deals in business checking, savings, and high-yield money market accounts. Look for the best business debit and credit card deals, too. Some companies are offering cards with no transaction fees.

See Bankrate.com for a comparison of cards and their fees for ATM withdrawals, credit card purchases and cash advances.

4. Organize an office swap meet.

This is a brand new concept that is sure to make starting up a business both fun and economical. During an office swap meet, people from different offices come together to trade their unwanted or surplus office items for items they need. The atmosphere is congenial, there's plenty to choose from, and anything unwanted at the end of the day can be donated to charity.

5. Two words: Free Gas!

Hotels offering gas cards as a bonus for booking are all the rage. Look for this valuable bonus at chains such as Marriott, Sheraton and Best Western, as well as many independent hotels. Armed with a free gas card, you can easily travel to distant locations to purchase your home office supplies at big discount warehouses.

Check out GasBuddy.com for fuel bargains across the country.

6. Hire LegalZoom.com—not your own attorney.

Save time and money on forming your DBA, LLC, incorporating, or getting your EIN and trademark though LegalZoom.com. Created by top attorneys, LegalZoom helps you create reliable legal documents from your home or office. Simply answer a few questions online, and your documents will be prepared within 48 hours for about half the cost of hiring an attorney.

7. Consider Costco for your Merchant Account

If you're a home-business owner, you need a way to accept credit cards over the Internet. At Costco, you can set up a merchant account to accept Visa or MasterCard through your retail, mail, phone, or Internet business, taking advantage of their great low rates and fees. Plus, if you're already a Costco Executive Member, your application fee and monthly statement fee will be waived.

8. Get a professional logo for $45.

Why pay hundreds of dollars for a logo design when 45DollarLogoDesign.com will do it for you for $45? As long as you have a pretty good idea of what you want your logo to look like, this company will design a customized, professional logo for you. Turn around is fast. You'll have your logo samples within 24 hours.

Don't let falling market shares, bank bailouts, and a gloomy economy put a damper on your new business start-up. Instead, get creative. Look for ways to start up your business outside the traditional way of doing things.

By utilizing these eight tips, you can start up your business in tough economic times and be well-positioned and ready to go when the economy improves.