Ideas for Starting a Business with No Money

So you’ve got a brilliant idea for a business, but you just don’t have the cash to make it happen?  No problem.

Don’t let your lack of funds get in the way of your business start up, as there are plenty of ways that you can start your own business without having a lot of money.  If you are hardworking, creative and think outside the box, you will be able to get your business underway without having to take out a huge loan or convince a “dragon” to invest in you.

First of all, you can save a lot of money by cutting down the expenses of your business as much as possible in the beginning.

Try to delay as many of the business related expenses as you can, such as renting a large office or hiring staff, until you actually start making money.  Start the business as small as possible (even if it’s just you at your kitchen table!) and don’t expand it until you start making a profit.

Another way to save money is to do things on your own whenever you can.  Sure, it might be faster and easier to hire a specialist or an expert, but you will save a lot of money in the beginning and at the moment let’s face it, you have more time than money!

Here are a few great ideas to keep in mind which will help you to start up your business on almost no money at all:

• Work from home for as long as you can.  You can avoid renting out an office which will save you a lot of money in the beginning.  If you need to meet with clients you can always see them at the local coffee shop if you don’t want to have a business meeting in your living room.
• Hold off on hiring any employees for as long as possible.  If you can do everything yourself you don’t have to hire staff until there is a lot of money coming through the door and the demand for your product or services becomes too much for you to handle.
• At some point, you will need to go through the legal red tape of incorporating your business.  There are plenty of great resources online that will help you to do this for free, such as the free legal advice at Score.org.
• Use Quickbooks, great accounting software for small businesses.  It will help you to keep a close eye on all of your expenses and you will save money when hiring an accountant.  Quickbooks will also save you time, which you can better spend finding more ways to make money with your business.
• Instead of paying a web designer in the beginning, try using one of the free themes on WordPress.  They can look very neat and professional and they are easy to use even if you have no knowledge of web design or programming.
• Rather than hiring an SEO expert in the beginning, do your own research to find out how you can optimise your site for the right keywords and get listed on Google and other search engines.  It might be worth it to hire an SEO consultant later to help you progress further, but you can most likely teach yourself the basics to get yourself started.
• Instead of paying for business and marketing courses, enjoy the many free online resources instead.  There are so many blogs, videos and websites about entrepreneurship that you could enjoy the equivalent of a business degree online for free.
• Offer to do a favour or work for free for someone important and influential in your niche, in exchange for a mention and a link.  This can provide you with priceless advertising and credibility.

These are just a few ways that you can start up and grow your business without having to invest a lot of money.  Keep it small in the beginning, build it up slowly and think creatively to keep your expenses low and you will be amazed at how far you can grow from such humble beginnings!