In these times of tight bank credit, aspiring entrepreneurs may wonder how to start a business with no money. If you have a great idea, but worry about your lack of capital, there are a number of ways to begin your start-up business with little or no costs to you. But you will need to plug into the key attributes for business success —creativity, resourcefulness, flexibility, and hard work—to turn your business dreams into a start-up reality on a shoestring budget.
Here are a few free ideas to help you get your new venture off the ground.
1. Be Committed to Do-It-Yourself Tactics.
To start your business with no or little funding, you will need to think about all of the tasks that you can do without hiring others. Keeping your expenses low does not happen by accident, but through consistent and sometimes tedious efforts to handle matters on your own.
2. Work from Your Home.
The costs of renting an office or storage space may be a major obstacle to beginning your new business venture. Do as much of your work from your home, basement, garage, or storage shed as legally possible. Many start-ups, especially those requiring only a computer and Internet access, can easily be done from home where you are already paying rent or a mortgage.
3. Launch a Service Business.
Evaluate your skill set and think about services you can offer to others. Many busy individuals and businesses would pay someone to handle their daily tasks. House cleaning to data entry and online research projects, your services have a value to others and involve little to no additional expenses to provide.
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4. Create an Online Store Using Drop Shipments.
If you have a passion for selling products, then think about developing an online store for free and collaborating with product suppliers who offer drop shipments. Many goods manufacturers and/or distributors would be willing to work with you on selling their products online and directly delivering your customers orders as drop
shippers. Your buyers have paid for the items upfront and the drop shippers carry the costs of product inventory and delivery.
5. Seek Microloans through P2P Lending Sites.
Although you can seek loans from friends and family, you may want to consider casting a wider net through person-to-person (P2P) lending sites. A number of online sites have cropped up that allow individuals to seek microloans from other web surfers to fund their fledgling businesses, such as Zidisha.
6. Develop Bartering Relationships with Other Businesses.
For centuries, bartering was the only method of trade between individuals and businesses. Before the development of currency systems, bartering allowed parties to exchange products and services without money passing between the parties. In today’s budget-conscious times, your business can revisit this ancient tradition by offering to swap your products or services in return for others’ goods and services.