Learn how you can take your startup with no funding to the next level utlizing these lean startup strategies - explained by NYC stock broker, Jonah Engler.

1. Lean Startup Strategies

2. Running a lean startup, especially with a lean budget, is a very different
animal than running a startup with a deep well of venture capital
behind it. You need to prioritize different facets of the business. It calls
for different strategies as you move forward and here are a few of the
most important.

3. Hire a Financial Expert
Hiring someone with a solid background in financial management can
feel like an extravagance, particularly if you’re already working with a
limited budget. Even so, not hiring a financial expert, such as an
accountant, often proves more costly to a startup over the long haul. A
financial manager serves as a sanity check for your spending and can
raise important objections, such as asking whether hiring additional
staff is based on actual need or an unfounded expectation of rapid
growth.

4. Disciplined Spending
Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, notes that lean startups are
defined by their discipline, rather than the exact way they deploy
capital. The lean startup is not afraid to spend money on things that
matter to the company, such as split-testing, assumption validation and
launching a minimum viable product. Spending on these elements of
the business helps to create revenue and pushes the company toward
long-term viability. Spending on external signifiers of success, such as
expensive office space, luxury furniture and splashy marketing
campaigns early on is a good way to go bankrupt.

5. Ruthless Cutting
Lean startups are ruthless about cutting, but only cutting the right
things. As the business develops its core product, it tests customer
response to the new iterations. This doesn’t mean a slavish devotion to
what customers like. It does, however, mean being willing to stop
spending money on product features, development and staff time for
things that every customer seems to loathe. Slashing unpopular
elements frees up cash and employee time to work on things that will
make, rather than cost, the company money.

6. Hire Carefully
Few things end up costing a startup more than a bad hire. Unlike large
companies, where group efforts smooth out the incompetence or
ambivalence of a single employee, lean startups depend on the full
effort of every employee. A bad hire can disrupt release schedules and,
in the worst case, tank the company. Spending a little more time and
money on making good hires pays off in an improved likelihood of
success down the road.

7. Lean startups don’t always have the luxury of a lot of startup capital.
Whether your company is bootstrapping or just raising money one
milestone at a time, you need to spend your money with discipline, cut
ruthlessly, hire carefully and get an expert in the mix to manage the
finances.

8. This post was repurposed for distribution. To read more articles just like
this from Jonah Engler, visit his main website at JonahEngler.com.