Tips for Running a Start-up in a Down Economy

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Here are some simple yet effective tips for start-ups to survive and make it successful in a down economy:

1.) Go Slow and Steady: Always keep a cool head. Go slowly but also maintain a steady pace ahead. There are many entrepreneurs who think that it is important to start earning million dollar profits in a short time, say within a year. This is not true. Don't focus on the time required to become successful, just focus on giving value.

2.) Give Value: Ask yourself this fundamental question 'how am I generating value for others?' Write down your answers and keep those answers as goals to be achieved. Value generation is the only way to put your Company onto a fast track in a down economy.

3.) Hire Less, Hire Quality: Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of hiring too many individuals. Their logic – more people equates more productivity. This cannot be further from the truth. In many cases, more people can mean decreased productivity. Firstly there is the question of effective management and secondly managing more people directly means more pressure on the manager. Hire only those people who you think are the most important for the time being. Train these people and make managers out of them. Then hire more and put these people to work under these managers. It always makes more sense to train in-house employees to assume managerial posts than to hire a manager paying hefty fees.

Recruit your employees directly using sites like Linkedin and Facebook instead of wasting money on recruiters. You can also consider using freelancers who work from their home. Check out sites like ODesk and Elance.

4.) Keep the Workplace Simple: If you thought that fancy workplaces are fun to work in and they improve employee morale then you couldn't be further from the truth. The truth is that a good employee will be willing to work in any atmosphere as long as he likes his work. So cut your urge to invest a lot of money to make the workplace look posh.

5.) Promote Effectively: Promoting your business is important but what really matters is how you promote your business. People tend to spend a lot of money in promotions onlt to find out that they are not getting enough ROI. So make a promotion plan that is simple yet effective. For instance, if you are taking part in a trade show, go for rental equipment instead of buying the displays, similarly go for cheaper displays like portable pop-up displays that require less management and look good too. If you are promoting your business using search marketing then invest in local search instead of spending money attracting non-prospective customers.

Use the inverted triangle rule. Start with less and then go towards more promotion as the need arises.

6.) Don't Focus on The Negatives: The best think that you can do as an entrepreneur is to turn a deaf ear towards all the negative news and propaganda you hear on TV and read of newspapers. Just focus on what you are doing instead of worrying about how bad the economy is.

7.) Outsource: Outsourcing redundant work is equivalent to delegating work. If you think you can save a lot by outsourcing then do it. But ensure that you outsource only to reliable firms.