Ok, so this is my very basic attempt to create a word..a Nowner. A person who conscientiously owns nothing avoids fixed asset purchases.

This will be short because you either get it or refuse to. The expression ‘cash is king’ is used so often it has become white noise and we don't apply it correctly.

For every purchase and every resource in your start-up, you need to apply a simple RoI rule. How long until it delivers a directly attributable return on the spend?

The office furniture, the printer, the PC, the new app feature, attending the big conference, the exhibition?

Anytime the RoI is longer than your cashflow runway ( i.e. how long you have until you need more money/investment) you simply must do without, or get it cheaper

Living in the wonderful world of SAAS generally means so much of a modern business tech and finance set-up is a monthly fee, with great deals on sign up ( note this is where incubators, accelerators and aggregators are very useful. A good example is https://www.getproven.com/

No one expects a start-up to have office space. Use flexible contracts at we-work style organisations. Hotel lobbies are the new town square, find one you like, join their loyalty program ( eg. Hilton Honors) and tip well. Free desk, wifi and professional meeting area. If you’re nice, they might even let you use the gym;).

Build your product in increments linked to either increased AOV ( Average Order value) or LTV (Lifetime value). Remember done is better than perfect.

This rule needs to be applied to every new hire. Its essential that every salary is adding RoI. Add to the cost of sale, not the overhead. Outsource non-core activities until the cost is stable enough to run the ROI rule over it.

Hack: Anything you still want to do, even though it breaks this rule, you should consider as R&D budget and not BAU. It will help with how your end-of-year audit looks and your tax return.

The overlooked art of barter.

Pretty much everything you want as a start-up can be bartered for. You just have to be a little bit more creative and ballsy :). I’ve always looked at this as if I don't ask, we’ll never know. Some big barters I’ve done in the past:

The telephone switch for a 100 seat contact centre in exchange for free customer support for the telco ( we were a bureau so this was so easy - a super deal!)
The MVP for a new App in exchange for Sales Strategy Consultancy ( we just agreed a fair day rate ofr both activities)
Book-keeping including all finance tax returns in exchange for office space for the accountant to run his business
SEO and Digital Marketing in exchange for call centre lead generation

Over 20 years, I’ve always loved a good exchange of services. But none of them come close to the best barter of all time; The guy who painted the Facebook offices and took shares in lieu of the payment, a $200 million paint job. True story! Google it :)

Barter has the added bonuses of no taxes, well almost - ask your accountant :), its super fast to get started, and if done right, it can lead to a regular client or supplier relationship.

Try it! What do you need? What have you got that a potential vender might want? Then ask them; ‘*Hey would you be interested in an exchange of services?’ * it's that simple. Let me know how you get on.