Many small businesses make the mistake of over-extending themselves in the early years, particularly if they are supported by finance.
Rather than just looking at what your competitors do and trying to copy them, you can gain a great advantage by operating differently… as well as reducing your initial costs.
When starting in business you will have no clients or customers initially, so reducing your outgoings to their minimum level is to be recommended.
Rather than taking premises at the start, perhaps you can operate remotely or through other low-cost options?
This will benefit you in two ways:
1) With lower overheads you can pass on the savings to your customers, making your charges more affordable than your competitors.
2) Perhaps you can actually charge more by offering a service where you go to the clients rather than make them come to you. This would give you both a greater income and lower overheads.