How To Survive On Minimum Wage As You Transition Into An Entrepreneur Do You Have Any Alternate Income Streams?

Entrepreneurs will struggle during the first few years of their run as the head of a company. Surviving on the minimum wage is not uncommon when you happen to be launching a startup. To make sure that you can survive, you need to plan your budget well.

It's true that in a recent survey over half of all entrepreneurs support a raise in the minimum wage. Unfortunately, that is unlikely to happen anytime soon. In the meantime, read this guide to figure out how you can go about surviving on the minimum wage while running your business.

Do You Have Any Alternate Income Streams?

To begin with, you need to think about your alternate streams of income. Most entrepreneurs won't have any, but you may be able to cash in a structured settlement to get a quick cash boost, sell some of your assets, or borrow money from friends and family.

There are many options for acquiring money outside of your usual salary. You may even want to pick up an extra job for the weekend, so you can pad out your income. The more money you can get into your accounts the better.

Make a Budget

To become an authority in your industry, you need to have a proficient grip at financial management. Making a budget is crucial because then you know what you need to survive and how much you have to spare for optimizing your marketing channels.

What you need to remember about the brand building is not just how much money you have in your company. It's about how much cash flow you have. Plan a budget that ensures you always have money to work with, otherwise, your campaign could grind to a halt.

Your budget should be fluid and it should be reviewed once every month or two.

Should You Bootstrap or Seek Funding?

This is completely up to you and there's no right or wrong answer. The mistake people make is they assume finding funding will be the answer to their money worries. Venture capitalists and angel investors may not have any interest in your line of work. If you're running a more traditional company, you will struggle to get funding.

Keep in mind even the banks are rarely lending to companies these days. If you're making minimum wage, the chances are you lack the income for them to consider you.

Bootstrapping when you have no money does have its benefits, but you have to get creative and you have to be able to network effectively. This is a decision you have to make yourself.

Focus on Getting a Product onto the Market

The most pressing issue you have is money. Your goal should be to bring money into your company as soon as possible. Your first priority is to get a product onto the market so you can begin making an income. Entrepreneurs are often so perplexed with perfectionism they test, they develop, they test, and they develop. By the time they do get something onto the market, their marketing budget is shot.

Try to settle for second best at this stage. You can always bring out other versions of your products later. This is exactly what big companies do because they serve to gain more through an imperfect product that sells versus a perfect product in the making.

The quicker you start making money the sooner your minimum wage issues will be resolved.

Take Care of Yourself

Dealing with a minimum wage job and trying to run a startup will take its toll physically and emotionally. It's important you avoid panicking and you avoid working yourself into the ground. Taking care of yourself will ensure your motivation remains high and you're able to stomach the difficulties associated with not having a lot of money.

Spend some time reflecting on your life and set some time aside for yourself. Too many entrepreneurs are like shining stars. They start brightly and burn out because they are pushing themselves too hard. Slow and steady does win the race in the world of startups.

Last Word

Surviving on minimum wage is all about getting out of that situation as soon as you can through growing your startup quickly. It's a far from sustainable existence and you won't last for long without outside investment. Get your product onto the market and begin building from there.

Make sure you have a solid financial plan and budget. Refer back to them and make alterations as your business changes.

How will you start building your business today?