Nowadays, everybody wants to be an entrepreneur. The changing demand and rising technology have made a lot of people come up with innovative business ideas. The big question many people ask is: How to Start Your Own Business With No Money? Let’s dive deeper!
But not everyone is blessed with a sound financial position. Some people have great business ideas, but the one thing that holds them back from starting their entrepreneurial journey is the lack of money.
If you are among such people, then let us tell you that starting a business is not all about money. It is a way to follow your dream and find personal joy and happiness. The path is not without bumps, but it’s that one thing that all of the world’s successful entrepreneurs have followed.
Undoubtedly, the business journey becomes much easier if wannabe entrepreneurs have huge reserves of money. But with intelligence, determination, and commitment one can start their entrepreneurial journey even without money as well. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that demonstrate how to start your own business with no money:
Table of Contents
Stage 1: Getting Started
1. Do Not Quit Your Current Job
If you are working in a 9 to 5 job while starting an entrepreneurial journey, it is advisable to not quit your current job. We know that by following this practice, the level of difficulty might rise even further.
But look at the brighter side of it. If you retain your reliable source of income along with your new business, it will save you from the worry of not paying your debts.
Once the growth graph of your business starts rising, you can then think of quitting your current job. Make sure that your current job doesn’t have any clause that restricts their employees to pursue another source of income while working for the company.
2. Create a Business Plan
A business plan is basically a document that explains what to do and how to do it. As the business grows, it keeps changing.
Business plans are a great way to check whether the current business idea is feasible or not. Chances are you may abandon your current business idea and come up with something new.
A realistic business plan also attracts a lot of investors. It also helps in gaining a clear picture of the industry and also helps prioritize your work.
3. Conduct Competitor Analysis
Every business has competition. A competitor analysis is a great way to closely look into the market and competitors and find out their strengths and weaknesses,
- What marketing strategies are they following
- what their basic objectives are
- How they might respond when you enter the market
- how much they’re charging for their products/services
In almost every case, if you find the answer to the above questions, then it will mean that you are on to something.
4. Analyse and Test Your Ideas
Before setting up any business, planning and preparation are crucial. If possible, look for opportunities to do test runs. Let’s understand this with an example. For instance, you have planned to open a restaurant business.
To find out if you can manage the busy ambience of a kitchen, try to cook for small parties. You can also conduct a survey of potential customers to see if they would like to repeat your imaginary business or not.
As we mentioned earlier, business plans keep changing. If your research and testing conflict with your actual plan, then don’t hesitate to change it and commence from the beginning. Doing this is much smarter than risking your business on an idea that will not work.
5. Look For Opportunities to Build Expertise at Affordable Prices
You may have a great business idea, but if you don’t have the skills to pursue it, you may not taste success. To train yourself, make contracts with companies or institutions in return for something useful for them.
Take on a part-time apprenticeship. To acquire practical knowledge, you can also approach your friends, family and skilled acquaintances.
6. Make Use of Your Existing Assets
When you want to start a business with no money, it is great to use your existing resources. For example, you can turn your garage or that extra room in your home into a workshop.
You can also turn your private car into your company car. Some of today’s biggest companies (Apple, Google, Facebook, etc.) had started their journey just like this.
7. Organize Your Staffing Plans
Hiring well-trained employees are quite expensive, especially when you plan to start a business with no money. You can either keep a small staff or manage everything on your own. During the initial stage, if you plan to go with the second option, then it can be great for your budget as well as for your startup!
This is because no one can understand your business better than you. Also, you will be able to gain a lot of skills and knowledge as well as personal satisfaction from implementing ideas, communicating directly with the target audience, and most importantly, not sharing financial rewards with anyone. In short, you will get complete independence.
8. Ask for a Loan From Friends/Family
With inventiveness and hard work, you may manage to start a business, but a time might come when you cannot progress without money.
For instance, if you have planned to start a photography business, then you may require certain types of equipment that you cannot borrow from anyone. In such a scenario, don’t hesitate to approach your friends and family for financial help.
If you plan to take a loan, make sure you get everything in writing such as the amount borrowed, interest rate, and repayment terms.
9. Secure an Official Small Business Loan
In many countries, the government provides loan programs that are outlined precisely to finance small businesses.
For example, in the U.S.A, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is an agency that runs such programs. Among them, 7(a) is the most widely used program. To ensure money is profitably expended, the program makes businesses fulfil certain requirements as business musts:
- Operates to earn profits
- Meets SBA guidelines for what makes a business “small.”
- Operates in the U.S.A or its territories
- Able to show sound use of money
- Has sufficient equity
- Does not have any suspicious existing loans to the government
10. Get the Word Out
No matter how great your business idea, or how much time and effort you have put into starting it, if people don’t know its existence, it will fail.
Since you have planned to start with no money, you cannot afford to promote your business through TV ads or billboards.
Don’t lose your heart! We live in a digital world. Nowadays, you can reach your target audience globally, even without spending dollars. Start spreading the word through social media, guest posts, and emails.
Stage 2: Have an Entrepreneurial Mindset
1. Develop Passion and Determination
Starting a business may sound very exciting, but making it successful is not as easy as it seems. It requires a lot of passion and determination.
If you adore your business idea and if it is something you think has passion, then your work can become much less challenging. When you have a passion for your work, the determination turns strong as then, you won’t be satisfied until you have done your best.
2. Get Ready to Transform Yourself
When you start your own business, to keep up with new requirements, you may think of making changes in your habits and appearance.
For every entrepreneur, flexibility can be a great asset. Therefore, to discover the right slant to tackle the target audience, you may have to rediscover a few times.
As mentioned earlier, starting a business requires a lot of determination and hard work; therefore, it is vital to change your habits and behavior, so that you give your new work the required time and attention.
For instance, you are an insomniac. And if your restaurant opens in a week, you cannot afford to continue such a habit. So, change your conflicting habits today!
3. Take Benefits of Alternative Funding Methods
If you don’t have any trust fund or angel investor, it doesn’t mean you can’t raise capital for your company.
Nowadays, for individuals with great business ideas (but no money), it has become quite easy to acquire the attention of individuals with money (but no great ideas). Websites like Kickstarter allow people to pitch their ideas online.
If people online like your idea and find your business plan good, they can consider investing in your startup.
Another way to raise capital for your start-up is to participate in start-up competitions. These competitions are often organized by business schools of major universities, allowing young and enthusiastic entrepreneursto sell their ideas to rich private equity investors.
4. Put Your Customers First
According to Ray Kroc, “If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.” In simple terms, companies should always put their customers first.
If they fail to do that, they will lose out to their competitors. Just take an example of Apple. Why, year after year, does the company continue to dominate customer-satisfaction?
Despite better phones with a superior operating system, why are they spending billions on marketing? It is because the company knows what their people want.
They satisfy their needs through their products. That is why they have been able to build loyal customers who happily spend on iPhones or iPads every year.
5. Provide Superior Value Than Your Competitors
Nowadays, because of a rise in competition, consumers have more options to choose from the same type of products. But they choose only those brands that offer value for money.
To gain the attention of your target audience, offer them better deals than your competitors. Also, try never involving your customers in dishonest advertising as it will ruin your brand identity.
6. Pay Close Attention to Contracts and Partnerships
If you want to go for any contract or partnership, make sure you make a careful and wise decision. Partner up with people who are trustworthy and have good records.
To avoid any future discrepancies, pen down all partnership terms and make the relationship official. Hiring a good lawyer for this case would be a great idea.
You may find legal fees expensive, but it’s better to pay once than pay multiple times later, in case of any discrepancies.
7. Build Your Ability to Negotiate
When everything fails, negotiate. Great negotiation skills are a major part of the personality of a true entrepreneur. While hiring an employee or buying any equipment, don’t hesitate to negotiate.
What is the worst thing that can happen? The other party probably says “no.” Take risks! You may land up to a profitable outcome.
Conclusion
We hope this blog helps you through every step of your business starting process. We know that it’s a long and challenging process, but by following this guide, you might outstandingly succeed in creating the next big brand.
Remember that every business has its own ups and downs in their respective life cycles. Don’t hesitate to take risks and dream big. Good Luck!
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