Let me start with this opinion you are facing. Starting a business with no money is actually possible. You have an idea for a business, but you don’t have any money to start it, it’s okay, you just have to believe it first deep in your mind, you still can make it.
Capital shortages are a common excuse for failing to start a business. If you have encouragement to start a business, coupled with a great idea and an unbelievable drive to succeed, you can start a business with no money. You don’t need a miracle to do it, but you need to follow certain steps to successfully start a business with no money.
So, How to Start a Business with Little to No Money?
Both young and old people complain that they want to start a business but don’t have money. If you have a decent business idea, don’t let capital shortage stop you. Lack of funds, should not prevent you from pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams.
With confidence in your idea and a clear vision of how you are going to implement it, you can do it. Once you cover it, getting the funds to support your dream may not be as difficult as it seems.
Some questions probably you ask, “What type of business can I start with no money? Is it possible to be a successful a businessman with no money?”
Don’t be discouraged, some of the big brands below have proven it. Here are some of them that started with almost nothing:
• Dell – Michael Dell started out as a dishwasher by making $2.30 per hour. Dell began to sell PCs from his college dormitories.
• Google, Apple, Disney, Harley Davidson, Lotus Cars, Mattel, Hewlett-Packard, Yankee Candle Company all started in the garage.
• Nike – Founders, Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight began to sell training shoes from their car trunk.
• Whole Foods Market – In 197,8 Rene Lawson and John Mackey saved and borrowed money from friends and family to open their first store in Austin, Texas. After being evicted from their apartment, the two stayed in their first shop.
1. You May Choose to Open a New Business
There are tens of millions of small businesses in the United State, and starting a new business to contend in this segment will require hard work and dedication. If you know how to run a business well, then you have taken the right steps to start a business, actually money must not stop you.
2. Make Big Seven Keys How to Start a Business With No Money
To be a successful businessman with no money, you need to practice some of its key. Follow these big seven keys to start a business when you have little to no money. Don’t waste your time, learn how to make money today!
A. Keep Your Current Job
Being practical is important when you want to start a business. You need a steady source of income before you can manage your business, so it is advisable to hold your current job first. By maintaining your current job, you will be more secure when you need to take risks.
You will, of course, you will need to spend extra hours and work harder. But the transition from being an employee to being a business owner will also be far smoother from additional expenses you have to worry about.
B. Practice Your Business Idea
You should truly realize, coming up with a great business idea is just the beginning of your journey as a great entrepreneur. There are so many more steps out there that you need to take before you can get started. Evolving your business idea is one of them, and it is very important to the success of your business.
Is your business idea really unique and original? What value will it produce? Is it something your target audience truly wants? Or is it something you think they had want? Get answers to these questions is important to decide whether or not your idea really works.
C. Analyze Your Challenges and Market
You have a great idea that you know it will work, but what about your competition? Is it difficult for a competitors to copy your idea and repackage it in a better way? A potential investor will definitely ask you this when you approach them for funding. It’s very important to understand the challenge and market you operate in and your competitors.
You must first look at the trends and identify challenges that your business may face. The next step is to understand how you will overcome these challenges to stay it profitable.
D. Appraise Your Capital Needs
You need money to start your business, of course, but how much do you really need? Without a clear idea you run the risk getting an unrealistic valuation of your business, which will delay investors and get your loan application is rejected.
So, before you start wondering on how you should raise money, it is important for you to focus on evaluating your funding needs. How much do you need to get start? How will exactly you do to use the funds?
E. Network with People Around You
When you don’t have money to start your business, it is essential that you find the right person who can help. You can attend trade shows and events where you can find potential investors. You can also join with various online forums on social networking sites where you can find resources and useful to reviving your business.
Most venture investors and capitalists are quite active on social media, so if you can impress them with your idea you may find a great way to get started on your business dream.
F. Run a Trial
Want to be sure if your whether your business idea is indeed unique? You can fix it with run a test and find out. A good pilot will give you the confidence you need to take your idea to the next level and decrease risk.
You can start on a small scale by giving away a few free items to several people in your target audience group to see how they will respond. Small trials can give you some new concepts to grow your business and identify challenges that you might have missed.
G. Collect Feedback
If you are planning to enter a completely new business, it would be very helpful if you got a second opinion from someone who knows the market well and the challenges involved.
A business idea that looks good on paper may not be interesting when you really get into it. An expert’s opinion may help you see things from a different perspective and get more knowledge that you may lack.
3. Make Your Business Public
Starting a new business with no money means that you have to work hard to be succeeded. Don’t keep your business as a secret without tell anyone. Tell as many people as you may be able to reach. You can do this with call your friends, explain it to your family members. Just make it public.
Telling people who will help you in several ways. For starters, indeed, it will give you extra energy. More importantly, it might help you to get some of your first customers. People on your network could make valuable introductions.
Just ask for help.
No one can succeed alone. Especially, if you start a business without money you will need all the help you can get. You can reach out small business owners. Many of them started their business with little even no money.
4. Create something and license it
If you are an inventor, you can license your patent to a company. In licensing deals you usually get a percentage of sales. The best way to license your invention is to find a manufacturer. Technically, it is named licensing your patent rights.
You can start out by developing a list of manufacturers. Look for people who have made products in your target niche. One or two manufacturers is not enough, try to identify at least, 25 potential manufacturers.
You can find manufacturers by looking at networking, product packaging, online research, and visiting trade shows. Libraries have excellent resources to find manufacturers. Wiki Machine, Thomasnet, Manufacturer USA are possible resources too.
5. Tey to Find a co-founder with money
Many successful businesses are began by two or more founders. With two founders you will also increase your chance of success.
Tell people in your network that you are seeking for a co-founder. Then, join with someone you trust. It is a little bit like you are getting married.
As a reference, you can search for potential cofounders through:
• Business meetups.
• Local startup networking events.
• Family, friends, and family friends.
• You classmates from high school and college.
• Former business partners if you have been in business yet.
• Working in a co-working place.
• Past coworkers
• Teaming up with a customer.
6. Have a credit line
Businesses are generally funded by credit lines. You might use a credit card to help you with your cash flow. The key with credit lines is there is no substitute for revenue. But always remember that using credit lines only as a temporary measure, not as an alternative to making enough money to pay every your bills.
7. Register for government programs
Register to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and other government agencies for help and funding by giving the best proposal of your business plan. There are business financing options for veterans, women, and minorities.
Last but Not Least, Observe What Type of Business You Can Start
There are several types of businesses can be started without a heavy financial burden, such as:
1. In-home services
Services don’t burden you with a down payment because they’re intangible goods. And if you are working in people’s own homes or your neighborhoods, you absolutely won’t need a physical headquarters for your business.
For instance, you can start a dog-walking or pet-sitting service, babysitting service, or something like snow-plowing or landscaping.
2. Improvement or skill-based services
If you have a special skill, you can use your skilled staff as the main income driver for your business. For instance, if you area handyman, you can service homeowners who don’t know much about home repairs or improvements.
Just like in-home services, these types of jobs don’t need you to have a physical establishment and you don’t need to invest in anything up-front, except perhaps the tools or equipment you will need for the job, which will vary in cost.
3. Personal creations
First, there are personal creations, such as arts and crafts. For instance, if you are a painter, you probably can sell your works of art with an investment of nothing more than your own time and art supplies.
Some of big platforms like eBay, Etsy, and Amazon service to creators and make it easy to turn a profit from your work.
4. Consulting
Many workers think of becoming entrepreneurs only after gaining professional experience of several years under their belt. Think about the industry and how much you can learn at that time. Upcoming professionals or startup business owners will likely be happy to pay you for your expertise. Consulting is a service that is only time to produce, but can be very high and valuable as a career opportunity.
5. Micropreneurship
Of course, you can also collect your own miniature business through micropreneurship and joint economic opportunities. For instance, you can drive for a service like Grab, Gojek, Uber, or rent your house out through AirBnB or find similar services that you have use of what you have already gotten.
6. Resale
The idea behind this type of job is simple: You get a product and sell it to someone else. You can use wholesaling or dropshipping to get these items. With dropshipping, you will ship directly from the manufacturer (and make lower profit), but you will need almost no startup cash. With wholesaling, you will need more money and space up-front, but also you will end up with more control and more money.
After you start your business and earning revenue, your capital shortage will become less of a problem. Moreover, you can make a profit from your business and reinvest them, or use them to start an even bigger business.
There is no achievement of successful business overnight. You hurt yourself if you believe that. Most of businesses take several years of development before they become successful. Definitely, you still can start a business with no money. Expect to spend years to build your business not a matter of days. Keep in mind that persistence is key.
