Starting our own company is definitely the most fun we’ve had at work, but while we’re in the software development (ie, no sales) phase cash is a bit tight. Sure, we’ve had a few cost cutting brainstorms like using child LUAS tickets to go to meetings, but that’s only going to go so far. I was pretty psyched when someone sent me this BlogMaverick post on startups, inspired by this fantastically detailed post that breaks down lots of ways to save money at a start-up and how much they save you. Pat Phelan posted about this as well with some Irish-specific advice about handling maternity leave and deciding where to locate.

Here’s the things we’ve been doing as a brand-spanking-new startup to get things running without borrowing money (yet):

1. Go through friends, colleagues, friend’s parents, etc. to get free advice about the basics- how to set up a company, basic tax and law issues, etc. (Yeah, we know what they about free advice and accountants and lawyers are in the budget down the road, but we’re talking day 1).
2. Mooch development and pre-launch web hosting off a friend with extra capacity while our requirements are minimal.
3. Use freeware wherever possible. I don’t even have Microsoft Word installed anymore, just using Google Docs, and the same goes for server-side stuff.
4. Work from home. Meet people at hotels and coffeeshops when necessary.
5. Learn how to do stuff yourself. Since we started, I’ve been learning HTML/CSS, and Richard is now an Adobe Flash/ Photoshop guru. Again, we know the day will come when we’ll be paying someone who is great at this stuff to do it, but for the moment being able to do the simple stuff saves us cash.
6. Use your own hardware, etc.
7. Get Skype on the go to save on calls if you use the phone a lot. If you don’t need to use the phone try and use email or chat instead.
8. Buy books. It seems counterintuitive, but if a €40 CSS book keeps me from having to get our freelance developer to do dumb stuff it’s a savings.
9. Don’t print anything you don’t have to. We shopped around for the best deal on business cards, but everything else will be done electronically (no sales brochures, mailings, etc.)
10. Get the word out for cheap whenever you can. We think we’ve got a really cool idea, and it’s just a question of telling people about it, so we’ve added details about it to our LinkedIn profiles and we’ve asked former colleagues and fellow bloggers to help spread the word.

A few Ireland/ Dublin specific thoughts:

1. Dublin’s a small community, so it’s possible to get out and meet a lot of the most involved people in the community. With the exception of an seriously bungled attempt to drop in on a PHP user group event, we’ve found a pretty warm welcome and great free advice.
2. Be aware that Dublin has a lot of recent immigrants who may have had a pretty senior role in their home country but either due to language or different certifications haven’t been able to obtain a similar role here. You can find extremely smart, knowledgeable and ambitious people who are a pretty incredible hiring bargain if you talk to people who’ve recently moved. Not that we can hire anyone full time yet, but the day will come!
3. Serviced offices are super-expensive. We’re going to consider a business incubator for office space when we need it, or subletting office space from a company with extra room.
4. You don’t need to register for VAT until annual turnover exceeds €30,000, but you absolutely must file a tax return 6 months after company formation.
5. Buying a .ie domain name is comparatively a pain in the kiester, but it’s good for SEO. You need your company reg number to do it though.

That’s all I can think of for now, but every day is a learning experience :-).