Part 2: Financial monetary necessities.

The thought of opening and running your own business is super appealing. I mean, being your own boss; choosing your own hours; just taking leave instead of requesting it – man does that sound like a dream. But as you may already suspect from our insinuating tone, it’s that plus so much more. You will encounter challenges you never contemplated, even when you think you’ve planned every last detail.

In this Part 2 of ‘The unexpected necessities of a startup’ we’re getting a bit more businessy and diving into those dreaded unexpected financial monetary necessities. If you need a refresher on our psychological necessities of a startup then take a look at part 1 here.

So, let’s get right to it. 

Emails

When you purchase  a domain and get your emails thrown in, they come in a bland webmail account – which if you ask us, is not user-friendly at all. So you might need to open a Google Workspace or Microsoft Office suite account. But of course, these cost extra. Coming in at R90 per extra email address, depending on the service you choose. They definitely speed up productivity though, so we would argue that it’s worth it. Efficiency for the win! Now it isn’t a lot of money, and for some it may make no difference at all at the end of month financial review. However, for others that have just spent an exorbitant amount of money getting their new business up and running, the R90 per email address cost can add up. 

Subscriptions

They don’t stop coming and they won’t stop coming. 

You’ll sign up for the email subscription, and then you’ll need to add 5 more for your team . Then you’ll need the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system that costs R1000 a month; then it’s the accounting system; the payroll system and any other subscriptions that allow you to do your work without a hiccup. And this is just for the services industry! We haven’t even got to the product offerings! 

Shrinkage

This one can really hurt. Most of the time, it is a result of human error or not planning sufficiently. Shrinkage is when you quote someone R100 for a 3 month project and wind up only charging R95 due to an error. That R5 difference is the shrinkage. And when you have 20 projects with this issue, you wind up losing R100. Not only does this suck, but when you’re a small business you can’t afford small losses like this as they add up. 

Lastly, for this blog,

Legal fees

You need to make sure you are covered. Simple as that. Everything from registering your business or making a consultant sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), this is a necessity. There will be times when you can’t just download a template from Google and amend it to your company’s specifications. Sometimes, you have to spend a bit of money on legal fees to ensure that you and your company are legally  protected. 

These are a few unexpected necessities that we’ve encountered so far. However, as a growing business we  anticipate more to come. 

This blog is the second part of a two-part series. If you haven’t yet, be sure to read part one where we discuss the unexpected necessities from a psychological point of view. Click here to take a look.

Conclusion

• It’s important to take these surprises in your stride. 
• Don’t let these unexpected events set you back. 
• If they do, Get up and try again.
• Do your best.

We hope that by sharing our experiences, we help other small business owners  better anticipate these challenges . However, there’s no better way to learn these things than on the job. It’s all part of the experience and will all be worth it in the end. 

What have you experienced while starting your business?