Have you ever dreamt of starting a new business and being your own boss? What happened to the idea?
Many aspiring entrepreneurs like you have had to give up on their dreams because of the same thing.
you may have told yourself, “I don’t even have enough money, how do I hope to start this business?”
And I totally get your point of view, and trust me; you’re not alone in this. If you have never started a business before, a lot of the first steps can seem challenging – especially when you’re lucky enough to tackle them with a truck-load of cash at your disposal.
But guess what?
A lot of successful entrepreneurs today started from literally nothing. Michael Dell started selling PCs from his college dorm room. Google, Apple, and Disney all started in garages. Others began their multi-million dollar companies from their kitchen table with zero pennies to their name.
If you start feeling like you can’t possibly begin a profitable business in your current situation, you may be right. But not for the reason that you’re thinking.
The main reason why you haven’t started your business
Let’s be real for a second. It’s not always about the money because there are a lot of business ideas that don’t require a bucket full of cash to get started.
It’s about your mindset
Ask yourself: Why do I need money to start my business? What would I spend the money on? And what would the money give me?
Whether you even realize it or not, you may just be using your lack of capital as an excuse not to launch your idea.
Frequently, people feel all they need to succeed in their business is cash and lots of it. But as you dig deeper and ask yourself these questions, you’ll realize that you’re really lacking something else.
Maybe you need to build your confidence and overcome your fear of failure. Or perhaps, you feel like you are not experienced enough to get started.
But here’s the thing: the most important predictor of your future success is your mindset. If you feel that you won’t be able to start a profitable business, no amount of money can help you succeed. Changing your mindset is the main ingredient to move forward and create something extraordinary.
Now, if you’ve made up your mind to start a new business, and are willing to let go of any excuses, then here’s how to do it with little or no money.
Three solid tips to start a new business with little or no money
1. Dont do it alone
No matter how capable, confident, skilled and fabulous you may be, your business will never reach its full potentials if you choose to do everything by yourself. Start gaining insights from other people’s feedback, connection and experience before you even think of launching.
Leverage local expertise. Reach out to professionals in your field of interest and become friends with them. You’d be amazed at how many people are willing to lend a helping hand if you just ask.
Whether they offer feedback about your business idea, answer your questions or refer you to someone who can help you get your business going, you can achieve a lot by just being around people in your market.
Other businesses and people might also have resources you can leverage in order to kickstart your business for less.
If you need to build an app but dont have the money to hire someone, then partner with an engineer and develop it together.
If you are in need of a good copywriter, offer to trade their services for something you feel will be of benefit to them in place of payment.
Look for innovative ways to offer people win-win scenarios that involve little or no money.
2. First, create demand
A lot of new businesses operate on the philosophy, “if you make it, they will come.” They think of a product, design, produce it, and then get to work trying to sell it.
I recommend you approach from the opposite direction.
Before you ever spend a penny, start building interest if you’re thinking of starting a shoe company, or producing a batch of branded tees. Introduce the concept to your friends and take preorders first. Measure their level interest, take orders, and then use the cash to cover the production cost.
Once you’ve got the products, go out there and get customers. Offer free samples or discounts so people can see how unique your products are for themselves. It’ll give you momentum, referrals, testimonials, and hopefully, loyal customers.
3. Dream big, start small
Your potentials are off the charts. I completely believe in your ability to launch a business that surpasses your day job, allows you to channel all your energy and time to your passion and ends up being insanely profitable.
But you can’t achieve this in a day. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and sacrifices.
Don’t throw away your dreams all in the name of facing reality. Dream big, then dream bigger. But you must also learn to be patient while you seek to achieve your goals. Don’t quit your day job the moment you launch your business – it’ll put too much financial and emotional pressure on the new business. Start small, and grow big.
To be on the safer side, create a low-cost, minimal viable service or product and see how things go from there. Consider offering an online product first to reduce startup costs.
You can start at a local level if your service or product doesn’t translate virtually. You have plenty of time to progress and grow – starting small gives your business a higher chance of being successful.
