Managing business finance during the start-up phase

There are ways you can save money on goods and services, both at home and in your business.

Making personal savings when starting up

You may be able to reduce the amount of money you pay out each month, simply by shopping around for services and loans. If you already have personal debts, for example on credit cards or personal loans, seek advice from an independent adviser or your bank as it may be possible to reduce your outgoings this way as well.

You can also try to reduce your everyday expenses. Tracking your personal spending can help you identify areas where you can reduce your personal spending.

You can download our personal budget spreadsheet (XLS, 13K) and adapt it to your individual needs.

Making savings in your start-up business

You can cut business costs and make savings by:

• Implementing simple cost control systems across your whole business to identify scope for savings.
• Cutting unnecessary or excessive costs, for example, by not heating your premises at night or finding low price suppliers for goods or services.
• Adopting 'green' practices such as switching off computers when not in use can also save money as well as reducing your carbon footprint - see how to save money by using energy more efficiently.
• Considering leasing goods or buying them second hand - see how to decide whether to lease or buy assets.
• Considering whether you can save money by running your business from home - see how to start a business from home.