A digital marketing startup can be an attractive proposition if you’ve got existing industry experience and want to cut yourself a bigger slice of a lucrative market.
And with firms in the US, UK and Ireland suffering because of a skills shortage, the timing might be right and the future bright.
But as with any nascent business, there are pitfalls to avoid and efficiencies to maintain.
So here are four ways to streamline your digital startup.
Remote working
If you’re starting off with a small tightly-knit team, perhaps there’s no point paying large overheads for office rental.
Many digital nomads work remotely for agencies while they’re on the move or based permanently on the other side of the world.
And the flexibility of working where and when they want allows them to produce high quality work that’s still delivered to deadlines.
So if you bear time differences in mind for teleconferences and client calls, there might be no particular reason your staff members have to live in the same country, much less the same city.
Outsourced HR
You’ll need to pay staff promptly and ensure that your tax arrangements comply with your operational territories.
And in times past this would have required a bustling HR department spending much of its time on onerous admin tasks producing reams of paperwork.
But outsourced payroll services provide a solution — giving you with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you’re operating legally, efficiently and effectively.
These services also produce payslips, P45s and detailed management reports automatically — so you can collate and collect all the evidence of compliance you’ll ever need.
Once your business expands you might decide to hire an HR partner, but offshored services are perfectly sufficient for many startups.
Collaboration
If your offering focuses on a particular part of digital marketing like social media, it’s possible to carefully nurture collaborative relationships with other small companies that specialise in other areas.
Provided you tread carefully to establish mutual trust, you can establish a partnership that turns a potential competitor into a comrade.
This allows you to pitch to clients looking for a full spectrum service with the confidence that you and your collaborator can satisfy their needs.
Researchers are also formulating better ways for larger corporate entities to join forces with startups more efficiently and effectively — so you might establish a beneficial relationship with a larger firm and emerge unscathed from the experience.
Project management tools
If you’re working across borders with a small team of crack digital operatives, you’ll need to make sure that your project management skills are sharp.
Losing track of deadlines and work streams can sink your startup, but good project management software can be your saviour.
Look carefully at the tools that are available to ascertain what the best fit is for your company.
These four ways to streamline a digital marketing startup should smooth the path to shipshape sustainability.
Do you have advice for a digital startup? Share your words of wisdom in the comments section.
