Do you know that you can start a business with no money? Do you have a dream to be an entrepreneur or business owner but you are afraid to pursue such dream because you don’t have money?
Do you have a good business idea or opportunity but you seem handicap to act on it because you have no capital? Then I advice you read on as I am about to teach you the secret of starting a business with no money.
Most people want to start a business, but unfortunately, they don’t have any money at hand. In fact, one of the most common questions people are now asking on the web is, “How can I start a business with no money?”
If you are also one of those asking this question, you are just on the right page. You will get more than enough answers that will make you glad after reading this post.
At one time or the other in your life, you may have proposed to start a business; either a full time business or a part time business to supplement the current job you have but it seems that you haven’t been able to make up your mind to get started; maybe because of procrastination, fear of the unknown or fear failure since statistics shows that most new business ventures fail without first 5 years of getting started.
Limiting time factor is another excuse for people that already have a full time job. Starting a new business is a very fulfilling venture a person may engage in, though it may be stressful for the first few years, the reward later on out shines the stress.
Over the years I have spent as an entrepreneur, I have come across countless individuals with big
dreams and good business ideas; but they all seem to have one common problem and that problem is capital.
Now the truth is that capital is and will remain one of the biggest challenges to starting a business. In fact, that is why the ultimate job of an entrepreneur is to raise capital. Take a critical look at the life of an entrepreneur and you will see a continuous struggle to attract or maintain an inflow of cash into the business
However, I must point out the fact that the problem of raising capital is no longer a noteworthy excuse for not starting a business. With the recent advancement in technology, the game of starting a business has been made easier but the competition is now fierce.
Now how do you start a business with no money? How can you open a business without capital? This article will be focused in everything you need get that business idea up and running; it will cover both what you need to start a business and how you can achieve the goal of starting a business. But before I share more tips, keep in mind that there are two basic strategies for starting a business without money. They are:
Two Strategies for Starting a Business without Money
Delay the normal procedures that most people implement when starting a business until your business starts to earn money. These procedures include incorporation, hiring employees, renting an office or retail space, etc. This strategy is called bootstrapping.
Do everything yourself until you can afford enough money to hire an expert. This means you will spend more time with most tasks, but you will spend little or no money.
With the above said, let’s now look into the various tricks that you can use to start a business without spending a dime.
Why You Should a Small Business Even If You Have No Money
One thing about being an entrepreneur is that you tend to get all manner of people coming to you either as customers, business associates, employees, family members, friends or investors. I was motivated to write this article because of some statements I hear often from young aspiring entrepreneurs. I am talking about statements such as:
“I want to build a big business”
“I want to be rich”
“I have just developed a multi million idea or product”
While I am not against such tall ambitions since I am also an ambitious person; I am against big dreams without the willingness to pay the necessary price. Most entrepreneurs dream of being the next Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Aliko Dangote, Mark Zuckerberg or Sam Walton but they don’t seem to be willing to pay the price of success to become as these men.
“I did 30 Minute Meals for five years on local television, and I earned nothing the first two years. Then I earned $50 a segment. I spent more than that on gas and groceries, but I really enjoyed making the show and I loved going to a viewer’s house each week. I knew I enjoyed it, so I stuck with it even though it cost me.” – Rachael Ray
“I built a conglomerate and emerged the richest black man in the world in 2008 but it didn’t happen overnight. It took me thirty years to get to where I am today. Youths of today aspire to be like me but they want to achieve it overnight. It’s not going to work. To build a successful business, you must start small and dream big. In the journey of entrepreneurship, tenacity of purpose is supreme.” – Aliko Dangote
“I have taken more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. Twenty six times I have been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I have failed over and over again in my life; and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
“I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations….I have built my own factory on my own ground.” – Madam C.J. Walker
This is the main reason I have a category on this blog titled “Lessons from successful entrepreneurs.” I introduced this category on purpose to enable aspiring entrepreneurs see what it took these “famous drop out billionaires and entrepreneurs” to get to where they are now; and to also enable you learn from the mistakes of these successful entrepreneurs.
“I like thinking big. If you’re going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.” – Donald Trump
It is good to dream big, but the real fact is; are you prepared to pay the price to become big? If you are, then you must be ready to start small. Most young entrepreneurs hate starting a small business and that’s why they assemble their business plan, make all necessary arrangements and then wait for an investor that will provide the $1,000,000 capital. What these “day dreaming” entrepreneurs fail to realize is that the way to become a big business owner is by starting as a small business.
“If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest.” – Syrus
The hard truth about waiting for the million dollar funding is that the million dollar investor might never come and even if they do, they will not invest with you because you lack the necessary entrepreneurial skills and confidence to run a business and grow their money.
“One of the most important things a real investor needs to say is this; “I want my money back and I also want to keep my investments.” – Rich Dad
So what is the way out? My suggestion to young entrepreneurs who come to me with ideas and business opportunities is this; go and start small or get involved with the process of starting a small business.
“Start small and dream big.” – Rich Dad
I usually advice entrepreneurs who are new to the business world to do all they can to start a small business; no matter how small that business is. Why? You might ask. Well, if you are an aspiring entrepreneur reading this; then below are four reasons why you must start a small business.
a. Most young entrepreneurs have no business experience. They have not been confronted by business challenges and they do not know how to solve intricate business problems. But experience and competence are probably the most important characteristics investors want to see in an entrepreneur. When you start a small business, you will gain experience and improve your business skills.
“The world is filled with brilliant million dollar ideas waiting to be funded but the world lacks seasoned entrepreneurs.” – Robert Kiyosaki
Starting a small business is highly recommended for young entrepreneurs because that business will be their learning ground; their own business school. I recommend you start your own small business because business mistakes can be made and corrected quickly in a small business.
“Underneath every mistake in business is a valuable lesson. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs miss these lessons because they lament and blame others over the mistakes.” – Ajaero Tony Martins
Decision can be made quickly in a small business and the consequences of such decisions will be felt directly by the entrepreneur and most importantly, the entrepreneur can get a feel of how every part of a business system inter-relates to make a successful business.
b. If you start a small business, you will faced by the initial startup challenges of finding new customers and managing the business system as a whole. Now the truth is; if you can handle these challenges, then you are preparing yourself to handle the business challenges of building a big business.
c. In business, there are unforeseen challenges. If an entrepreneur should humbly go through the entrepreneurial process of starting a small business, he or she will come to realize that there is more to building a business than just finding customers and making sales. An entrepreneur running a small business will come to understand that business is a people’s game; and it takes good people management skill to bring these people into fusion.
d. If you are able to start a small business and grow at a rate of maybe 35 – 45% per annum, investors’ confidence in you will be boosted. The investors will come to reason that since you have bootstrapped the business to the current level that you are, a little support will make a big difference. The truth is if you can confidently handle a small business and grow at a steady rate, then you can handle a big business.
In retrospect, I have seen entrepreneurs start and build small successful businesses but they refuse to go beyond the small business level. They started a small business, grew it into a success and got contented with the small business level. These set of entrepreneurs simply got contented with mediocrity. So for you who intends starting a small business, don’t make the same mistake; don’t get infected with the “staying small” syndrome.
“There’s nothing wrong in starting small, but the danger is in staying small.” – Robert Kiyosaki
“It is easy to stay the same but it is not easy to change. Most people choose to stay the same all their lives.” – Rich Dad
I want to encourage you to just start a business, no matter how small. Don’t wait for the right time because there will never be a right time. You might make a few business mistakes and experience a few business failures but don’t quit. The entrepreneurial process rewards only those who stick it through to the end. Good luck.
How to Achieve your Goal to Start a Business With No Money of your Own
Take a Decision to Start the Business Now-: A lot of limiting factors have been holding you back from starting your business. But if you are ever going to start that business, you have to make decision to get started now; not later, not next year, not when the time is right or when you have all the capital. When you make the decision to start now, you will start figuring out how other things like capital and time will fall in place. But you have to take the first step by deciding to start the business now.
Evaluate Your Strength and Weakness-: Taking into consideration your strength and weakness in business can help you fine tune your business idea to match your strengths. You can either choose to ignore your weakness and focus more on your business strengths or you can learn to work on your weakness because it may affect your business negatively in the future.
Set Your Business Goals with a Time Frame-: After you have made the decision to start the business now and evaluated your strength, it’s time to set your business goals. The goals have to have a time frame attached to it for it to motivate you to work harder to attain the goal; the goal may be to start and grow a mail order business to a four figure income within the next six months. The goal has to be an achievable goal that will not be too overwhelming to achieve. You can start with smaller goals and add bigger goals when you see yourself achieving the small goals.
Get Trained-: As I mentioned above, information is the power you need to successfully run a business. After you map out what your business plan will look like, it is time to get materials and take training courses related to the business and learn the ropes of the business. If it entails you going to intern for a good company doing the business already or staying under mentorship with a person who is a guru in the business, do it.
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