Startup: Maybe Good Tools Can Be Cheap
Yeah, finally. Writing this blog post is like a dream come true. Finally, I have a real startup I am working on (I have worked on a couple of projects that look startup-like in the past). While it is still in the idea stage and I might not want it to be totally public yet (Yeah. It is somewhat public already), I am ready to use this space to walk through the journey of creating a startup in Nigeria. Most startup founders start with very limited budget, hence, the need to be as scrappy as possible. But, being scrappy comes with the price of time and sometimes inconvenience. After so many trials and errors, you are still trying to figure out if the next ‘free’ solution you are about to adopt will actually work like you want.
Truth be told, free things are always limited. But sometimes you just want something that works. Even looking at the triple constraints of project management, you can only pick two out of fast, good and cheap. It is believed that if it is fast and good, it will be expensive. Also, if it is fast and cheap, it will be of low quality. However,, if it is good and cheap, it will take more time to deliver/execute. For startup founders, cheap is a constant, you just have to make a decision to choose between good or fast.
Well, some founders get frustrated to the extent that they think of getting things done without the so-called tools After all, why use an accounting software when you can work out formulas on Microsoft Excel to create all forms of account sheets? Maybe you would hire someone whose full time job will be working on that. Remember you don’t even have enough budget to hire yourself. You are probably working for free. Hence, the need to get the tools somehow. Another point is that if you are building a digital business, you must try as much as possible to make use of digital for your internal processes and culture as well as external brand image.
Bottom line is that these cheap good tools exist but they are hard to find. Maybe you don’t even know that you need them. I will be writing on the tools I have found useful in my startup journey here. I am going to expose all the cheap good things one tool at a time. This is more like open sourcing my processes.
Maybe you should stay tuned. Maybe yes.
