As a new business, you need to bootstrap where possible. Many new business owners will take this to mean do everything yourself. However, what this actually means is you should spend your money wisely. Instead of hiring a marketing professional to work full-time in your business, hire a freelancer or work with a marketing company that you can pay per project. Not only do you get their skills, but you work with someone who has their own business and works with many new businesses. They will be able to give you a little more insight into things, especially if they work exclusively with startups.
What Kind of Experts Would Benefit My Business?
The answer will vary depending on the type of business you run and your skillset. Now, you need to be honest about your skills and if you are okay with something or really good at it. For example, if you can write decently, you may be able to handle your blog and email marketing with relative ease. However, it may be worth your while to spend a little money on website copywriting to ensure your website is set up to woo your customers.
If you are selling print on demand products, you might benefit from hiring a graphic designer to create designs that your customers want to actually buy.
Startups should consider hiring the following experts:
- Graphic designer to create a logo and banner for your business
- A copywriter to create your website and write product descriptions
- A lawyer to write your contracts
- Market research to learn as much as you can about your customers
- An accountant to help you to set up your books
- A logistics company to help you with shipping
Optional:
- A business mentor to help advise you
- A marketing expert, but this might be more beneficial a year or two into your business
- A web developer, though there are plenty of templates that you can use when you first start your business
- A recruiting or HR consultant to advise you if you need to hire staff
You may be able to get by with some basic versions of things at the very start, but as your business grows, you will need to upgrade these. Compare the cost vs benefit of the above experts and work out what you need help with from the very start and what can wait until you have some income.
Why It Is Beneficial To Seek The Help of an Expert
Small businesses will not have the kind of money they need to hire a person to work in their company full time in the operations listed above. Rather than paying £20,000 + per year to hire an accountant, you can work with an accountant firm for much less. That allows you to hire a number of experts for far less than hiring one or two full-time professionals.
How Much Should I Pay For an Expert?
There is no hard and fast rule for how much an expert will charge, but be aware that the more experienced someone is, the more they will charge. This will not always be an accurate measure of quality, but you can cross-reference with reviews and a portfolio. You are looking for:
- If they have worked with businesses like yours before, consider your industry, business model, and the size or age of your business.
- Positive customer reviews
- Their experience and quality of their work
Consider interviewing up to 3 people to ensure you pick the right fit. This will be beneficial for experts such as lawyers and accountants who will not have a portfolio.
Work out how much you have to spend and where you want to allocate your resources based on your business needs. You should consider experts you may want to hire while you are in the planning stages of your company. This will give you the time to follow experts and consider who will be able to help your company the most.
Are you considering hiring a copywriter? Read our article on how to choose a copywriter.