“We developed our first product in a 28sqm condo unit in Makati. It’s not so quiet as we hear the city train pass by every 10min. It’s comfortable, but it was not that conducive for work.
Our initial budget was P100k. I was the one who opened the checking account in Metrobank and cut checks to buy our first desktop workstation and a small computer table. The 80×50 whiteboard behind us was the one we purchased at National Bookstore in Glorietta, which we had a hard time loading in the cab.
It was 2001, and I remember the fall of the twin towers were all over the news at that time while my brother and I just resigned from our employment to pursue the business. We both started with an allowance of about P5k each per month, rent and utilities financed by our uncle. We operated in very minimal monthly expenses.”
If you have a great and promising idea that you are itching to start, then here’s the most cashflow friendly way to start and run a business:
A. Do not formally register the business yet without a product and initial traction, especially if you are in a bootstrap mode. Registering the company only makes sense if you have either a financier or revenue.
B. Do the business registration yourself. You don’t need to hire a full-time admin or an accountant yet. We have guides on every public office from the SEC, or DTI, Cityhall, BIR, they have detailed instructions on how to register the business. You may need to talk to a friend who has the experience, get a list of requirements from him/her.
C. Get a virtual office. You can get a virtual office as low as P1,500 per month in Makati. All you need is to register the business with the address that you can put on your website. These virtual offices offer a conference room that you can rent on a per hour basis if you need to meet people or customers on-site, ranging from 1-2k per hour.
D. Use LinkedIn, UpWork, or other free platforms to source for people. Use virtual administrators, recruiters, creatives, SEO specialists, programmers, or even sales lead generators who can work remotely. It is essential to pool people in your online network, so you have reserves in the case of wrong hires. If possible, engage with them on per-project commissions or incentives and not on a monthly or hourly fixed compensation.
Balance the tasks to delegate. Admin tasks that are urgent but not that important are ideal to outsource while important/urgent tasks are the ones you can do yourself.
E. Invest in learning social media strategies, personal branding, SEO/SEM. It is the best time today to do FB or IG ads as they are really cheap compared to Google Ads or SEM.
Matching your revenue and expenses is the key to cash flow management. Improve collection, remove the urge to spend non-essential things, and invest back your profits to your company.