Last updated on September 21st, 2023.
If you’re like a million other Americans, your dream is to start your business. Of course, this is a great dream and a valid one, but most people get caught up with what they don’t have rather than taking up what is available to them and start doing a business out of it. The most common obstacle for people who want to become entrepreneurs are not having enough time, motivation, a solid business idea, or money. While you should get all the other aspects of your business fleshed out for you, money shouldn’t be among the worries.
You don’t always need money to get your business off the ground. Even though this may sound ridiculous, it’s possible. You can get your business off the ground with little to no money. Even though starting a business with little to no money sounds a bit far-fetched, it’s not impossible. To become an entrepreneur with no money requires a shift in mindset. You can always go for loans, grants, or even crowdfunding. So, money should never be the obstacle stopping you from achieving your dream.
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Can you be an entrepreneur without money?
Of course, you can, and we’re not talking about being the “Tinder Swindler,” but other legit businesses out there. There are businesses that you can start using your skills only, and they don’t require you to put in any money as you start. Of course, you’ll eventually invest back if you want to grow it, but initially, you can start offering your services and get your idea off the ground.
Other businesses are ideas that need actual money, and in such cases, no one said the money has to come out of your pocket. Can you imagine just how much time it will take for you to save up? No one has time for that. You could borrow grants and loans from family, friends, or the bank and get your business off the ground. There is no need to wait for your savings to reach the required amount to start a business.
What is the easiest business to start with no money?
There are lots of ways you can become an entrepreneur with no money. For example, you can choose to offer up your skills for pay. There are many ways you can do that, depending on your skills. If you’re good at repairing things, you can take up a gig as a handyman and have people book you online to come and fix stuff around their homes. Let’s say you know how to drive trucks. It will be possible for you to find a job as a truck driver and start making yoru living. When you’re an entrepreneur, always understand that you can start small if you don’t have money and build your way to the top.
There are so many jobs that only require skills. You can even offer up being a babysitter or a dog walker around a specific neighborhood. This way, you won’t be spending money on starting your business but instead using your skills to bring in the capital. Maybe you’re now thinking that your skill isn’t something you necessarily have to do in people like software or video editing; well, that too works. Online platforms allow you to sign up, start offering your virtual services, and get paid to do it.
If these business ideas are feeling a little too low for where you want to start as an entrepreneur, remember that you can always build your way slowly to the top. For example, if you’re driving trucks, you can always save up, then, later on, ask for a loan and buy your vehicle. Eventually, you can purchase a fleet of those and start your own company. Never let that end goal that you have die.
How do I start an entrepreneur without money?
There are more businesses for those looking to be entrepreneurs. You don’t need money to start making money. Some more enterprises include:
- Airbnb: Let’s say you need more money and can’t think of a skill you can offer, or even lack the time for an extra job, you can always have your home to bring you money. Nowadays, most people travel around but want somewhere to stay that still gives them privacy and feels like home. Offering your house up on Airbnb can help you create money easily without even having to worry about it. All you need to do is ensure your place is spotless so you can have better reviews, and eventually, you can start making the place look even better.
- Real estate: Even though the name real estate stands up as such a fancy career that requires a lot of money, it doesn’t have to be. Say, if you have extra space in your home, you can rent that out to someone else who needs to use it, and they’ll pay you rent. For example, rent that out to others and get money if you have an extra bedroom you don’t use. Doing this will help you create money if you have trouble paying rent. Then the problem is solved. Another example is if you have a garage you don’t use, you can turn it into a studio or room and rent it out. Many content creators need places to film or shoot, and if you have a great space, why not have it make you money?
- Even host: Many people want to have experiences in life these days. If you’re great at hosting events, you can make this your business. Host events such as painting classes or cooking lessons, among other events. Here, you can get someone experienced in that industry, and they’ll teach the people attending the event how to do these things, and you’ll get money out of it. Most people enjoy attending events that seem private and aren’t too full of people to meet like-minded individuals. You don’t need to make all the events physical, you can even host events online, and people will attend if you have a great theme and exciting topics for you or someone else to share. Even with the internet and so much social media, most people feel lonely, and hosting events to bring people of the same interests together really helps people feel connected to each other.
- Dropshipping: You can always resale products online. You don’t need money to do this. Dropshipping means that you get goods at a wholesale price from the wholesalers then sell them for a profitable price online. You won’t need to buy these goods in advance or even pay for storage space. All you need is to advertise them online and get a buyer.
- Uber: There are many similar services to uber online, and you can sign up for the ones you love the most. Instead of letting your car sit there, and you need money, sign up your vehicle on uber and make money out of it. If you’re not too busy, you can even become an uber driver and get all the profits to yourself.
7 Tips for How to Become an Entrepreneur with No Money
Now that you know what skill you have and the services you’d like to offer and get money out of, here are more tips to ensure you become a successful entrepreneur.
Step 1: It begins with your Vision, Belief, and Discipline.
Your vision, belief, and discipline determine how successful you can be more than having money to become a successful entrepreneur. You need to map out the vision you have for your business since it will keep you on track and remind you what your goals are when you slack. If you believe in your business, no one else can ever talk you out of your visions and what you’re doing to achieve your goals. But if you have no belief in what you’re doing, it’s going to be easy to go off track and not meet the goals you put in place. Besides faith and vision, discipline is what ensures you reach that goal. Discipline means showing up every day for your business, which will result in meeting goals.
Step 2: Study, Take a Course, Intern, and Learn
To grow, you need to learn. You can take a course to sharpen your skills or even intern. Interning will help you learn more skills from the real world while taking a course that will add more certifications to show your skills. You can read excellent books like “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. This book explains how your thoughts are the first way to become rich, followed by a great desire to succeed. Reading such excellent books will help you become a successful entrepreneur.
Step 3: Learn How to Create Value for Others
When starting your business, ensure it offers a better experience, better quality, and more incredible speed. Everyone loves buying products or services that are better than what they’ve been having. So, when introducing your service, ensure it’s better than what everyone else is introducing to the market so that you can win your customer’s hearts. Introducing similar products to the market without added value will prevent your business from picking up the way you want it to.
Step 4: Practice Getting Paid for that Value
Once you know your value, ensure you get paid for what you’re worth. Many entrepreneurs lose their business because they underprice. Underpricing will prevent you from enjoying your work and can even hold you back from achieving your goals because you might make losses in trying to reach the value you want to. Getting underpaid for your value could even result in losing hope in your skills and business.
Step 5: Create Systems
Creating systems for your business makes it easier to keep track of your business and learn from it. Developing business systems will not only help you keep track of your business logistics. Business systems help your enterprise be a more consistent product and simplify communication.
Step 6: Invest in Your Business
Investing in your business doesn’t mean money alone. You need to invest time too. When you’re looking to achieve specific goals in your business, you must put in the time, effort, and money. Whenever you make sales, ensure you think about using the profits to expand your business further. If possible, you can even borrow loans or reach out to investors if you need to grow your business to meet the desired goals.
Step 7: Scale
Once you’ve successfully launched your business and it’s well on its path to growth, you’ll now need to think about the increasing orders and how you’ll handle that when the time comes. Any business with good scaling can handle demands and orders without crumbling, and that’s what you have to prepare for. Ensure your infrastructure, team, and business systems will be able to accommodate growth.
Conclusion
Becoming an entrepreneur isn’t a difficult task. You need to know what to offer, and the above tips will put you in the right direction of growth despite the kind of business you’re currently thinking of pursuing. Don’t worry about where you’re starting. All the business empires we now see started from somewhere, and so can you.
Here’s an article on lessons for entrepreneurs to help you out more on entrepreneurship.
