Start-up entrepreneurs generally become so involved and occupied with the product or service that they do not pay attention to money related matters. But finance is the lifeline of any business. Limited budgets make it imperative for you to save money at every stage of your business. Here are some ways to save money while managing a start-up:

• Reduce fixed costs: Your fixed overheads are what will hurt you the most. Try to optimize these when you start off. The biggest fixed costs you can incur are office rentals. See if you can work out of home in the initial few days. You can also choose a shared space option. Similarly, for your staff, consider reducing the fixed salary and increase the variable component, which is linked to performance. 
• Consider freelancing: Freelancing can be a great option to save money. Websites like www.freelancer.in can give you access to services of professionals at a cost which is much lower than what you would be paying full time employees. However, remember that not all tasks can be freelanced. Evaluate what can be freelanced and make a wise choice.

Take an incremental approach: When you start a business, do not go all out on expenses. Rather, take an incremental approach when you spend. For example, instead of printing 1000 visiting cards on day one, you can start off with about 250 cards and wait to see how things shape up. You may change your logo or tag line on the way and the unused cards may just be a waste. However, this approach can have drawbacks. You are going slow and may also lose out on better deals you may get on bulk orders. Nevertheless, this can help you save money in the initial days. Start-up entrepreneurs should also learn to be realistic in their goals of recovering investments and should follow an incremental approach in this respect as well.

• Use social media: As a start-up, you do not have the liberty to spend a lot on promotions and marketing. Nevertheless, branding and advertising your product or service is a must in today’s world of competition. Social media is a great option for promoting your brand and creating visibility. This can be done either for free or at minimal costs compared to conventional marketing.
• Stick to budgets: Create a monthly budget for your expenses and try sticking to this budget. Small business owners generally ignore this step and only concentrate on the income aspect. However, to save money, reducing expenses is as important as increasing income. Create a budget for the different expense heads based on your experience and this will help in identifying where you are over-spending.
• Go for value deals: Negotiate with business associates or service providers wherever possible to get best deals. A higher credit period from suppliers or a better service plan from a service provider can help you improve cash flows, and in turn save money. Similarly, you can make use of coupons and discounts on various websites which will give you value-for-money deals on your daily transactions.
• Look for inexpensive things: We do not mean buy cheap stuff. But looking out for inexpensive or good quality second hand furniture or interiors for your office can help in the long run. Similarly, cut down travel costs by choosing inexpensive options like video calls on the internet. You can also reduce telephone expenses by making use of low cost videoconferencing options. However, make sure that whatever you use is comfortable and suits your needs. You don’t want to end up having back problems because of an uncomfortable chair or losing deals because of internet connectivity issues! 
• Go for smart marketing: Smart techniques like target marketing and focusing on relationship building strategy are inexpensive ways to advertise. Word of mouth is a very effective way to get business, and this will work wonders if your product is good. You can also use low cost marketing channels like online marketing, newsletters, Google Adwords and blogs to promote your offering.
• Join hands with other start-ups: This is a step you must do only after careful planning. You can enter into strategic arrangements with businesses which address the same audience and advertise jointly, thus sharing marketing costs. You can also explore two-way marketing, wherein you can market another start-up’s products in exchange for them marketing yours. You can also evaluate related products commission based marketing, on the basis of the number of customers acquired.
• Maintain records: Keeping financial and accounting records in place from day one is a must for any setup. You can either use a simple excel sheet or make use of sophisticated software to keep track of your income, expenses and cash flows. Maintaining records brings about discipline in savings.
• Do the 80/20 analysis: In a majority of businesses, 20% of customers will be contributing to 80% of your revenues. Do this analysis to find out which 20% you should actually be worrying about. Evaluate if the money you are spending is getting you more revenue or helping you retain customers. In all probability, you will realise that you are spending a lot for the remaining 80% customers as well. This is where you can cut back and increase savings.
• Review and review: The only sustainable long term mantra to saving successfully is to periodically review your cash flows and your savings. Check invoices for the past 3 months and ask yourself if you are paying more anywhere. Ask yourself if you really need to incur an expense head or if this can be avoided? If this cannot be avoided, consider deferring the expense till the situation improves. Analyze every rupee that you spend to increase your savings.

Remember that a rupee saved is a rupee earned. Bringing about small changes in everyday business can go a long way in boosting savings and improving cash flows.