In all honesty, you are probably going to need to cut a few corners when starting up your new business. Unless you have resources to burn, you will be unable to prioritise every element of your company right away. And this is fine, so long as you know where you can and can't make cutbacks.
Where NOT to Cut Corners
Product Quality
You will live and die by the quality of your product. In the early days, it can be tempting to skimp on quality when profit margins are lean. However, if you do this, it can result in damage that blemishes your long-term reputation. There's more information about product development here.
Cyber Security
Nowadays, the threat of a cyber attack is a very real one. It seems a day does not go by without news of a breach, and these are only the breaches that we hear about! No business, no matter how big or small, can afford to overlook data security. If a breach were to occur, you’d find yourself facing huge fines, reputational damage, bad press, and considerable downtime.
Health and Safety
If you cut corners when it comes to health and safety, the impact could be devastating. Imagine the consequences if someone was to seriously injure themselves at your premises. The bad press and monetary damage is something a lot of businesses would struggle to come back from. For more information on health and safety, head to https://www.citrustraining.co.uk/.
Marketing
You don’t need to spend a fortune on marketing, but you do need to set aside some of your budget for this. After all, how do you expect your business to be a success if no one has heard about you or your product?
Where TO Cut Corners:
Market Testing
There is no denying that you do need to test your products. After all, a lot of entrepreneurs make the common error of assuming that their tastes and opinions perfectly reflect the market. However, an outside opinion can cost a lot of money, and it is probably money that you don’t have at this stage in your business’ lifecycle. This is why it is a good idea to handle informal market testing yourself. You can get your friends and family members on board and leverage online tools for surveying.
Patents
It can be very tempting to file a patent as soon as you come up with a great idea, but this can be a very expensive mistake. You should never file prematurely. If you file for a patent too early, you may find that it won’t actually cover your product, as products often change considerably during the development stage. For more details on patents and whether they are required, take a look at http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=21d48f1e-4ed5-43ac-a8d6-8a0a4d760605.
Researching the Competition
Of course, this is something you need to do, but it’s not something you need to spend a lot of money on. Far too many business owners spend their funds on a canned market study that does the hard work for them, and does it poorly. You will be much better off doing it yourself.
