It is thought that you need some form of capital to start a business of any kind. It is usually best for both the smallest startups and the best e-commerce platforms to possess or in other cases raise some capital. Despite this, having no capital isn’t the end of the world and there are many businesses that start without it. The reason for this is that having capital is only one part of being an entrepreneur.
Other aspects such as having a quality idea, a great work ethic and the courage to take risks are just a few of the intangibles needed for a successful business. The following guide not only helps you improve on these intangibles but with some of the logistical knowledge needed for the business world.
Steps to Take to Start a Business with Almost No Money
All this has a beginning and an end, the same is true when it comes to business. However, the path an aspiring entrepreneur can take to give the business a good start is as follows:
Step 1: Business Idea
This is the obvious first step to take and it could very well be the most important as it establishes what the business does as well as ideas of what it could be. Because starting your business without any money is about as difficult as you would expect, perhaps you could find a niche that is better suited for such a feat.
The following are a few business types that don’t necessarily need capital:
- Providing your services — this includes things such as any manual work, freelancing, and marketing on social media;
- Craftsmanship — this allows you to turn any hobby such as drawing into a business;
- Creating digital goods — these goods include anything that you can provide online and these include Ebooks, digital products and online courses;
- Being a social media personality — also known as being an influencer, this is a very lucrative area since it allows one to show their personality; if their platform is well received, things such as brand deals could come from it.
Step 2: Business Plan
This will be the layout of your business from the moment of conception onwards. The typical business plan consists of universal questions that need to be answered. Even an operation that uses little to no capital has to answer the following questions, let’s check them out.
What Is the Business Identity?
This requires a bit of self-reflection on an entrepreneur’s part as they have to possess a summary of the business. Things such as the business model, structure, and legal aspects are looked at.
What Does the Business Do?
A business has to sell products in order to make money. As such, a look at what goods or services are offered will be of great help.
Who Needs the Service I Provide?
Market research is an important component of any business as it gives insight into what people want and who wants it. This will make selling products easy as you already know where to go.
Assaf Cohen, who started game studio Solitaire Bliss, explains, “We did research using Google trends showing us what popular games we can build where there was already demand. This research was critical to our business.”
How Do I Let People Know About My Products or Services?
Once you know who wants what, you can begin looking for ways to show potential customers what they can get and where to acquire it. You can market your products in many ways in the modern age but social media is the least expensive by a country mile.
How Do I Sell to Customers?
This is answered by figuring out how the logistics match your business. Depending on your niche, dropshipping or self-printing becomes available.
How Do I Handle My Finances?
This will have everything to do with accounting and making sure all your finances are in order. All details such as needs, expenses, future projections, and so on are to be figured out here.
Step 3: Finding the Right Name
This is the step that requires you to find the name your brand will carry going forwards. The name has to be something that is easy to recognize and on its own, makes people curious.
With this name figured out, it can then be translated into other things such as incorporating it to all online platforms. You can also create a logo to associate your brand name with a visual object.
Step 4: Creating a Quality Minimalistic Website
While the above steps are things that require no money, this is the point in which money is most needed, which shows how valuable having a good website is. That said, the price paid is quite small with relatively small monthly payments needed to pay for a domain.
Step 5: Use Preorders to Legitimize Your Concept
Because business is a tricky thing, one can never be too careful when it comes to figuring out whether or not your project will be a success. Using a preorder system that allows you to use the money for production as well as build up excitement for your product is something that is very useful.
This process is essentially a test that allows the product to be used by those making the preorders and will help gauge whether or not the path is worth it. You can use different useful tools and apps that will help you with calculation, strategy and basic statistics.
Step 6: Finding Funding to Scale the Business
Despite it being possible to start a business without money, at some point, you will need some capital to help make your business grow. There are several ways to get funding and it ranges from your basic family loan and using crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter to using federal grants and capital investors.
Final Thoughts
Starting a business is thought of as a daunting task for the average person and even though it is more than achievable, the thought of responsibility and risk is scary. Building a business from the ground up without capital is done more often than not, but such operations can only go so far.
At some point, investors will be brought in if you are trying to grow exponentially. However, it depends on the type of business you are trying to build as well as the few tools available to you. Simply put, a lack of funding shouldn’t stop you.