What Should Startups be Spending Money On?

If you’re a new business owner, one of the toughest parts of the gig is deciding how to budget your money to get the maximum impact out of limited funds. It can be tempting to spend money on flashy things, but there are some key areas that many entrepreneurs don’t think of that can be key determinants of your startup’s success. 

Smart entrepreneurs will spend their money in several different key areas, but these can be simplified down into two main categories: raising awareness and protecting your company. 

Raising awareness includes marketing activities such as market research, branding, and customer service. These outbound activities help get your startup’s name out there—after all, even if your product or service is fantastic, if people aren’t aware that it exists, your business is not going to succeed. 

The other main category involves operations and finance activities that deal with protecting your company: getting legal advice, hiring a tax professional, paying for insurance, and even hiring an accountant. 

As a startup entrepreneur, your resources are very limited. It’s essential to be strategic about how you allocate your funds. With the current thriving economy, it’s easy to become lost in the sea of startups that are saturating the market more and more every day.

To be successful, you need to differentiate yourself. What makes you better than competitors? How are you adding value to your consumer’s experience? These are all questions that can be answered by market research—one of the less popular (but more important) areas to spend money on. 

Market research is just one of the several key areas that successful startups to focus on. For a complete guide to what startups should be spending money on, check out the infographic by JW Surety Bonds below.