What are the best businesses to start if you have little or no upfront capital?
Many love the idea of going it alone and setting up a new business – but getting the start-up capital can be difficult.But you can launch your own business with little to know upfront cash.
First, ask yourself these questions:
1. What skills do you have?
Do you speak a second language, can you code or are you a whizz with social media?
2. What equipment do you have?
Have you got a video camera or high-quality laptop? Do you already own sound recording kit or have a room set up in your house with video conferencing?
3. What support do you have?
Will your family support you through this new business or could your local school or community help out in some way? What about the council?
If you’ve got some positive answers to these questions, you might want to consider these businesses.
Online sales
Sites like Amazon, Gumtree and Ebay make it easy to buy and sell pretty much anything on the internet. If you’ve got an eye for a bargain or have some expert knowledge in an area you could go into online sales.
Search both the internet and shops for goods that you feel you could add a mark up to. Or you could buy goods in bulk at discount and package them up and sell them for a decent profit.
Film production company
With technology allowing pretty much everyone to own a HD camera you could easily set up a low-cost video production unit. And if you need any extra equipment, you could hire it for the first few jobs until you’ve made enough money to invest.
You won’t be making Hollywood blockbusters but local companies often need corporate videos which they are happy to pay decent money for. Create a few examples of your work before you start.
Photographer
Top wedding photographers can charge big rates for a few days’ work. If you have a good quality DSLR and know how to use it, ask around your friends and see if they need any photos taking – it could be for birthday parties, at business events or during gigs.
Build up your portfolio online for next to nothing and then you’ll start getting requests for work.
Training
Whether it’s physically or mentally, everyone likes to improve themselves – especially at the start of a new year. Find your specialist area and start advertising. You could run your courses from you home, in the client’s offices, over Skype or from a hired office.
Try and find your own niche in the market whether it’s life coaching, presentation skills or ski lessons. You could even train dogs if you wanted.
Writer
If you’ve got some specialist knowledge or having been working in an industry for some years, why not write a book on everything you’ve learned.
Thanks to ebooks, publishing is now affordable to most people – you just need to be able to put in the time and effort. For the first book, you could do it in your free time while you’re working. Once that’s a success, you could set up your own company.
Posted by The Secret Businessman