How to Start a Business with No Money

One of the major business challenge entrepreneurs face is “raising capital to pursue a business opportunity or take their business idea to the market place.” In fact, inability to access capital is the major reason why some of the world’s most brilliant ideas die without seeing the light of day.

I have written a lot of articles challenging today’s entrepreneurs to think big and start their own business. Yet, I still receive questions from young entrepreneurs who haven’t grasped the possibility of starting a business without money. Some of such questions are: how do I start a business when I have no money? Can one become a millionaire or even become a billionaire starting from nothing?

Well, if any of the questions above applies to you; then read on because I am going to explain in details how to start a business without money. But before I proceed, I want to clearly state that your perception is going to be a determining factor; whether you will succeed with the tips I am about to provide or note.

Now if you feel that starting a business without money is an impossibility, I will suggest you read the following articles “How to Become a Billionaire” and “How to Become a Millionaire”; they will help open your mind and expand your reality.

As I get down to the real business of the day, I want to assume that you have no money to start a business of your own. So I will practically be showing you how to start a business without your own money. But if you will rather not go through the entrepreneurial process of building a business, you can opt to sell your business ideas to companies and investors. You can learn how to sell your Ideas here.

How to Start a Business with No Money :

1. Develop a good business idea

The first step to starting a business without money is to develop a good business idea. Your proposed business idea must satisfy a need or solve a problem. Your idea must be good enough to arouse the interest of anyone who hears a pitch of it.

2. Have a good business plan

Even though you have no money to start a business, write a business plan. It might sound crazy but you are only preparing yourself to take advantage of any opportunity that comes your way. Also, writing a business plan will prove to investors that you are a serious entrepreneur that knows his/her onions.

3. What do you bring to the table?

Okay, I know you are reading this now because you lack the capital to finance your business idea but I will bet that you have something of value inside of you. What business skills do you bring to the table since you don’t have money? This will be a question most investors will want an answer to.

Take for instance you developed a good business idea with respect to the tech industry but you don’t have the money to pursue the opportunity, you can come to the table with your technical skills. Mark Zuckerberg did the same thing. Aside technical skills, you can also come to the table with your experience from a respected field. Skills such as sales skill, accounting skill, business management skill can also be brought to the table.

4. Find a business partner with cash

This is self explanatory. If you don’t have the cash to start a business, then find a partner who does.

5. Start a service based business

You can also start a service based business since it requires little or no startup capital. But you will definitely have to invest time equity to get things going. A little bit of creativity, marketing and sales skills will also be needed to give your business a head start.

6. Start a home based business

When I hear people giving lame excuses about their inability to start a business due to lack of capital, I boil inside of me. I have seen people start businesses right from their home and grow from there. Julie Aigner Clark is a good example of this.

I have seen people borrow $50 or less from family or friends and launch themselves into tremendous wealth through network marketing. I have seen young internet enthusiasts start a business from a friend’s computer or a public connection (cyber cafe). So I don’t think you have any excuse for not starting a business; even if you have no money.

7. Bootstrap your way to success

Lastly, you can bootstrap your startup by operating on a lean budget. Bootstrap financing is an alternative for those who are finding it difficult to raise funds for their business. Bootstrapping financing is simply the art of running a business on internally generated funds which are often limited. It involves the tactical deployment of resources while giving little room for waste. Effectiveness and efficiency are two watchwords in the game of bootstrapping.

As a final note, I want you to know that there will never be a situation where you will be provided with excessive capital to start a business. You just have to learn to run with what you’ve got. Don’t sit on your ideas simply because you have no money; start with what you have. Even if all you’ve got is an idea and your enthusiasm; start with it. Where there is a will, there will surely be a way. I leave you with these additional tips for starting a business without money.

Additional tips on how to start a small business with no money

8. Obtain a bank loan

9. Apply for a government grant

10. Raise money from crowd sourcing websites

11. Source money from Family and friends

How to Raise Startup Seed Capital from Family and Friends

12. Try raising capital from investors

VC Funding: How to Raise Capital from Venture Capitalists

13. Take your idea to institutions that support entrepreneurship (NGOs)

14. Participate in entrepreneurship competitions