If you have always dreamed of starting your own business, or if you are looking to start a new, new business after your last one went South, then one of the things you are going to need to get started is cash. Money is the great enabler and unfortunately without it can be hard to get the equipment you need, to pay the rent while you set up, or to market and promote your products and services.
It’s for this reason that many people will simply give up on their hopes and dreams and will not pursue that dream business. If they can’t get a loan, or don’t have the capital, then they will often just surrender to the idea that it isn’t going to happen for them.
Well I’m here to tell you that it can happen – and that there are many ways you can start your business without huge amounts of capital.
Boot Strapping: Boot strapping means literally pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, and if you have the right business model and attitude then there are several ways this can be done. What you need here is to come up with a business model that will provide you early on with at least a small income stream that you can then use to pay for the more ambitious aspects of your business.
Let’s say that you want to launch the next ‘Apple’ then (nothing wrong with ambition…). Well rather than waiting until you can afford your own manufacturing plant, materials and company, why not start off by just selling computer parts to consumers? You could do this with a website that had affiliate links and then use the money you raise for that to eventually start buying wholesale stock, and then eventually increase that stock until your profits are enough to start designing your
The Time: But still though… when are you going to find the time to do all this while holding down a job? Well the answer is at the weekend and in the evenings. This way you can start to increase profits while you’re not relying on them, until eventually you’re able to quit your day job. You can even take your holiday and use it to just focus on one of your projects.
Outsourcing: You’d be surprised at how much can be outsourced incredibly cheaply these days. For example? POD publishing. This means ‘Print On Demand’ and essentially it allows you to upload a PDF or a text document to a company and then have them print off copies of it as a hardback or floppy back book each time a company or individual puts in an order. This means you don’t need to buy your own printing press to become a publisher, and it means that you don’t need to invest in a large bulk of your own books up front – no investment necessary.
The Power of Teamwork: You probably aren’t the only person with aspirations to be the next Steve Jobs, so if you can find other like-minded souls who share a vision then you can pool your skills and resources to achieve much more. At the same time you can use freelancers and the helpful denizens of the internet to answer a lot of questions and get a lot of things done. Kickstarter meanwhile offers the ultimate answer for crowdsourced funding – allowing you to raise donations from thousands of people in exchange for discounts, credits, creative influence or any other terms you think will attract the right funds.
Cheap Options: Meanwhile think about how you can get the tools and supplies you need more cheaply, or even avoid buying them altogether. Do you need an office for instance when there’s free WiFi in the local café or your basement? And if you do have an office, why not consider heading to a liquidation auction to get yourself some cheap furniture?
Matt Davison is an Australian based business executive having more than 10 years of experience. He is known to render quality services to clients demanding expeditious company registration procedures for setting up their business.