How To Start A Business With No Money from Scratch

Do you want to start a business, but have no money? It’s a problem for many aspiring entrepreneurs who step back even if they want to start a business. A business definitely requires some sort of capital to start, but there are ways you can do it without any money.

Your primary requirement to start a business is not just money. If you have a clear vision of your business idea, you can definitely make it possible even without any money. In this article, we have covered the main aspects of how you can start a business with no money.

10 Steps to Start a Business With No Money

1. Start Parr-Time

Working somewhere part-time or full-time before fully jumping into the business would probably solve your money issue, but it’s not about that. If you have some savings, it’s okay, but if not, you need some money to keep yourself going. Before you even start working on a business, make sure you have a flow of income that can suffice your expenses.

If you have saved enough for maybe 3 to 5 months, then you can start working on your business without any job.

Read: Best Online Jobs from Home

2. Choosing A Business Idea That Requires No or Little Money

This is crucial. As you have no money to start with, do understand that you need to pick an idea very carefully. First, you need to go through different business ideas that require a no or almost no investment or almost no investment. You can’t plan to open a restaurant when you know you have no money.

Don’t be impractical. Understand what you can do to fix the situation. Pick up an idea that you can actually work out if planned properly.

Some of the businesses with no money you can start are the following:

• Dropshipping
• Affiliate Marketing
• Freelance Writing
• Create Online Courses

3. Planning The Business

You need to understand that you have a business to start with no money. In reality, you can’t actually start a business without any money. So, you will have to play smart here. You will write an initial business plan which will primarily depend on free mediums, methods, and platforms.

Once you start making money, you can switch to a business plan that lets you choose traditional methods and techniques.

So, create a freemium business plan that can help you run for a few days and at the same time, you will be able to generate some revenue initially.

4. Finding Free Ways

You need to do is find ways that are free, and will provide a platform for your new business. To break it, you will have to find out ways and platforms which are free or at least offer free access for a certain period.

For example, if you want to start a graphic designing business, you need to find tools that are free or give you free access for a period.

That way you can start your business, and once you start making money, you can invest in paid and better tools.

5. Calculating The Expenses

Here comes the tricky part. There are expenses that you may not be able to avoid. Like a license or business registration, or maybe software you need to buy to start your business.

So, you need to calculate the expenses you can’t avoid anyway. The simple solution is to work without anything before you start a business legally.

6. Starting A Business On Credit

If you want to start a bookkeeping business, work for a few days for a lesser fee and without any registration. This is for a service-related business. But in case, you are dealing with a business that involves products, you will need capital.

So, the first solution is credit. You can get your products on credit, and later pay off your debtor once you sell them upfront. Though, you will have a certain time frame within which you need to pay back your debt.

Secondly, consider applying for a business loan. There are a lot of instant loan providers available, where you can get limited credit within a few hours. You can choose a lender according to the payback rates and time.

Read: Best Personal Loan Apps

7. Analyzing the Market & Challenges

You need to strategize your business against the competition carefully. Make sure your business has an audience, and you have something better to offer. Unless you have anything which doesn’t bring in a difference, your product or service has no market.

Why would someone choose you over a product or service which is already established?

You need to understand the target market you wish to operate in and your competition. Go through the ongoing trends and identify the challenges your business may face.

8. Exploring Ways How You Can Raise Money

If you have a golden idea in your mind, you may end up with an investment. You should explore ways to find investment. Either you can visit the venture capital firms around your place, or can pitch your idea at finding events. If you don’t have much time, there are even platforms like Kickstarter, where you can share your idea online for crowdfunding.

If your idea has something different to pull off, you can definitely get people to invest in your business.

So, do invest a lot of time in brainstorming business ideas. Like, no one would like to invest in a standard coffee bar. But if you decide to start a coffee bar selling organically roasted coffees, you will have a point to stand out.

Even if you choose to go for a business loan, make sure you plan it properly. Calculate the expenses, business potential, profitability, risks involved, and more. Don’t come up with an unrealistic valuation of your business, this will get your loan application rejected.

Read: How to Raise Funds for Small Business

9. Network With People

As you plan to start a business without any money, it’s really important to find the right people who will help your business. Firstly it’s about finding potential investors, maybe online or offline. Start reading up about the business you want to start.

Meet people who are into a business similar to yours for useful tips and resources.

Start finding out people on social media who are related to your business. Connecting to the right people will help your business to start in a more easy manner.

10. Free Marketing & Promotions

As you have no money to invest in your business, you will have to find ways how you can market your business for free. The best and most effective way to promote your business is through social media. Use different mediums of social media to market your business for free. Use it to create brand awareness.

Create a website with the help of free website builders. Nowadays having a website is almost mandatory.

Another effective free marketing tool is email marketing. First, you will need a set of customers and their ids to market your product or service.

Offer fill-up forms on your social media channels to let users provide their contact data in exchange for a coupon. With customer data, you can now choose to send offer alerts and bulk texts for free.

Do not deter yourself from starting a business just because there’s no money. If you believe in your idea, go ahead. Follow these tips to start a business for free, and grow up gradually as you start making money!