ash in hand is heaven. Be frugal with it. When it comes to your own startup, your passion on one side, emotion on another side and the cash on another side - you will have to find a very specific way to tackle it.
1. Stop hiring for a quarter
New hires take time to get productive. When things are uncertain, stop hiring. This helps in 2 ways. One, you will not have to spend more money that what you spend now. Two, you do not have to spend extra time with those new hires to bring them to speed. Headcount alone is not the indicator of growth. So not hiring is not an issue for some time.
2. No new budgets on hardware or infrastructure
Hardware or office equipment start depreciating from the moment of purchase. Unless absolutely required, do not spend extra on hardware or even new software licenses. Absolutely NO to new office space. If required work on shifts to use the existing space to the fullest extent.
3. Stop the hype
Hyping, parties, trips etc. will eat up money as well as time. More than this, the mindset that is created by hype will take a few days to fade away. During this time, the productivity goes low and it affects the work. Hype also sets higher expectations. That will create soft issues.
4. Take smaller but quick yield projects
Do not wait for the big buck project. Any inflow is good when things are at low. Smaller ones that can give velocity to your cash flow are good. Shorter delivery time and faster cash flow is good. This will energize the team.
5. Reduce travel to a minimum
Travel is one area that you need to keep watch. Bigger orgs need to really focus on this as travel takes significant cost and time. If travel is inevitable, everyone must travel one class lesser. This itself will save 30-40% on a per trip basis. Same thing holds good for stay during business trip as well.
6. Talk to the banker
Do not hesitate to talk to your banker. They are the one who keeps your money safe. So talk to the banking relationship manager and seek advise. They may have wide idea as they see many people like you on a daily basis. You may also get the perspective of the industry indicators.
7. Do not hesitate to fire
Out of emotional attachment, many founders do not fire unproductive people. Ensure you fulfill all legal aspects and HR aspects before you do this. For some reason you may have retained a few extra people in the team, though their productivity is very low comparatively. But when your purse is lean, you need to take this tough decision.
Every paise is worth a rupee.
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