“I have got a brilliant idea for a business. But, I don’t have any money to start it up.”- This phrase is something that I have heard time and again in my life- from students, friends, and sometimes even colleagues.
Starting your business with no money might initially seem like a far-fetched idea, but it’s not impossible. As a matter of fact, you will have an easier time than big companies like Disney, Apple, Google, Mattel, and Harley Davidson when they began their journey in garages ages ago.
What matters more than having a fortune when you start out is having immense ingenuity, a zeal of passion, and amazing drive. It also depends on the strength of the product or service you aim to offer to the customers, plus the savvy you market your product or service!
Having that said, in today’s blog post, I will go through everything that’s essential to start a business with little to no money. It will come in handy whether you are looking to kickstart a small business or launch your dream startup.
Let’s get started.
8 Foolproof Tips For Starting Your Dream Business With No Money To Invest
- Identify Your Passion Skills
Most successful startups are developed from the unique interests and passions of the founder. Take Lynda Weinman, for instance. She was a self-taught computer wizard who in the 1990s created training films for her website design students. She didn’t need much financial capital to startup (less than $100), investing mostly her time to create exemplary videos. In 2015, her company Lynda.com was acquired by LinkedIn for $1.5 billion US dollars.
Really impressive. Right? To set yourself up for success, evaluate what skills you can use to truly earn and what you are genuinely passionate about. Try to answer these questions-
- What are my passion skills?
- Can I take one or all of my passion skills and use them to earn money?
- If I start a company based on my passion skills, would this motivate me to get up every morning and do it for the next 15 years or more?
Take your present skill set and industry knowledge to dig deeper. Discover a problem that needs solving. You can even sell a product or service that solves a problem you have. Because, if you have a problem, chances are somebody else will have it too- and would be willing to pay for a solution.
- Vet Out Your Business Idea
If you are aiming to start your business on the cheap, chances are you envision putting money eventually into your idea, even if you are going to invest the proceeds.
Regarding this aspect, Fahim Sheikh, the owner of SaaS company Trellis, suggests, “Before you put your money in your business, make sure you validate your idea within your trusted circle. Sometimes, we tend to think we have a great idea, but when we discuss it or pitch to others, we often realize that the concept may be a tough sell.”
Despite the startup cost being low, it’s crucial to ensure that your idea has legs that will make it worthwhile to sink not only your time into but also your eventual earnings.
- Test The Market
Ensure what you produce (whether it’s a service or good) is required in the present market. Evaluate what the market demands by conducting market research via search engines or social media. If you make an initial bad product, it could wound your reputation. Know that no one wants to be a real-life Del boy. Thus, I suggest you test your market to evaluate what your customers want and who they are.
- Develop Six Months’ Worth Of Savings For Expenses
Undoubtedly, tapping into your savings account isn’t always the ideal situation. Yet, it still remains to be a common practice among entrepreneurs. While designing your business plan, always try being frank with yourself about how much you are spending and how much revenue you will think of bringing in. Be practical about how long it will take before you see the profit.
I always recommend making a goal to save at least six months’ worth of living expenses so that you can devote yourself completely to new business.
- Think of Financing Means
Suppose you want to offer quality proofreading services to students. If you are not intrigued by bootstrapping, or you have grown to a point when a cash infusion is worthwhile, consider seeking external funding. While you can always avail traditional business loans, there remains a variety of options to look for-
- Friends And Family– Would Uncle Richard or Aunt Sally like to invest? Family can be quite generous, but the situation can always get prickly. Hence, it is wise to proceed cautiously and ensure you have a clear written agreement in place.
- Incubators And Accelerators– These remarkable programs always help high- potential businesses grow both with guidance and mentoring with an infusion of capital. Incubators are excessively new for companies, while accelerators can always help early-stage companies in growing.
- Grants– Grants for business ventures are specifically geared towards supporting members of disadvantaged communities, like women business owners and entrepreneurs of color. You can try acquiring these grants from government entities, both at the state and federal levels.
- Crowdfunding – This refers to asking potential customers to give you money upfront in exchange for the promise of special treatments in the future.
- Access Free Technology
In my opinion, there is no need to use a fancy custom website when you have no customers. Try to promote your business for free within a few hours using an onsite builder like the Wix, Moonfruit, or Basekit. They will host your site on their server without charging any dime.
Further, signing up for Google Adwords can help websites climb higher in the search engine rankings. Adwords are free, but it costs to bid for a paid advert. Alternatively, comprehending how to make a website appear higher in the organic search engine is efficient and free. This can work well for a startup business.
- Communicate Your Product To The World
Gone are the days when your capacity to promote your small businesses was determined by the size of your wallet. As a matter of fact, nowadays it is possible to develop your entire customer base without any paid advertising at all. Instead, email and a regular social media presence are all you need.
To maintain a constant social media presence, you can take the below-enlisted steps-
- Post one to three helpful items per day
- Ask various contacts in your network to promote your posts
- Connect with existing customers or prospects to ensure they are happy.
- Make Your Nights And Weekends Count
Oprah Winfrey once said, “You can have it all, just not all at once.” If you are starting to see the traction of your startup, now is the time to make those nights and weekends count. I am not asking you to drop everything, but be always willing to make certain tradeoffs so that you can meet your goals. Understand that your time is the most valuable resource now, so use it wisely.
4 Big Companies That Started With Little To No Money
- Skyscanner
This mega-company started as a bespoke spreadsheet to help its founders find the best flight prices. Since then, it has become Edinburgh’s leading tech company with 500+ employees. The company got off the ground in 2001. It raised $6 million in 2007 and $192 million in 2016, fifteen years after launching.
- Grammarly
Spell checkers have been coupled with Google Docs and Word for over a decade, but this app made enough improvements. Now, they charge 800 universities and millions of writers a monthly fee for the freedom of grammatical faux pas. After ten years, the company took in a $110M Series A.
In 1995, Stanford students Larry Page and Sergey Brin worked from their dorm rooms to create a search engine they named Backrub. It wasn’t until 1998 that someone cut the duo a check for $100,000 that gave birth to Google Inc. The business eventually boomed,making it one of the biggest companies in the world.
- Craigslist
In 1995, Craig sent an email to friends inviting them to an event. As he started sending more group emails- about job postings and more- people started asking to be copied on this list. He decided to start a site for all these classified postings. Now, Craigslist has become the 20th biggest website in the United States.
Final Note,
If you want to start your dream business that will change your life forever, you can do it today. If you want to find a reason not to, you will find millions. Learning how to start a business with no money isn’t that challenging, if only you make up your mind. You need to learn to keep going whatever your business venture throws at you.
You are at an age in technology where millions of opportunities are all around. All you need to do is look, spot, and begin.
Whether your business requires $10 or $100,000 to flourish, you can surely find a way to start. But the question here is, will you?
Let us know in the comments section below.
Author Bio
Karen Hamada is a business journalist at a popular UK magazine, where she covers business trends, startup ideas, and trending businesses like Psychology Homework Help services. A member of MyAssignmenthelp.com, she has been offering quality proofreading services to students for 10+ years now.
