So you have started your business recently, or have an idea that you are about to launch, congratulations! In a world where most business make it or break it during the first year, you want to give yourself all the opportunities to start well, while at the same time limit your expenses to remain sustainable and grow.

It is hard to balance the two, however, many companies offer the option  to rent their products, hire them on a month to month basis, or even try them out for free.

It can save you a lot while you try to start your business up.

 

Free trials

A lot of software companies for example will give you a 30 or 90 days trial to test their products. It is the perfect opportunity to make sure that your business really gets value out of their offer.

Others will offer your money back if you are not fully satisfied with their product. Make a note of when the trial or money back period ends and review whether you still need them for your company.

 

Pay as you go

Before you get fully confident that your business will make it past its first year, you may want to look into pay as you go options for a number of services. If you become successful, you can prepay for  a year and save money, if you don’t, you can cancel your service at any time.

It can be your cellphone service, your concierge service, the maintenance plan on your computers and servers, and so on.

 

Leasing

Those days, you can rent or lease pretty much anything. From a car to your office furniture, heavy machinery or specific equipment that you will only need for a few days. A quick online search will provide you with dozens of companies like Leasing4Business, who can cater to your every need.

Many small companies choose to rent office space only when they need to receive clients. You can rent a meeting room by the hour, and have your customers visit your there, as well as a PO Box for them to correspond with you. The rest of your operations can be conducted from home until you turn a profit.

 

Freelancing

The same flexibility applies to workers. It is easier than ever to hire people just to do a specific task. They may charge a bit more by the hour, but over the long term, you have no commitment to keep them, no holidays or sick days to pay, no perks to offer. They are in and out when you need them.

Websites like Elance and Odesk offer millions of freelancers to do just any job, from translation to web design to marketing or customer service. If you have a tiny budget, you can even try to hire out on Fiverr, where most of the tasks start at $5. While you won’t get your website’s design, you can get a logo on Fiverr for example, and $5 is a real bargain compared to what web designers tend to charge for the job.