Start a Business with Little to No Initial Capital
There are an increasing number of individuals who aspire to own their own business. In fact, I would postulate that a significant amount of the American population has caught the entrepreneurial bug at some point in their life; however, the enthusiasm and excitement that normally come with being infected by this bug normally subsides rather quickly. The most prevalent reason that people allow their dream or vision of owning their own business to diminish so quickly is the postulation that they simply don’t have the capital to invest in a new business.
The truth is that there are numerous business endeavors that do require a substantial amount of capital in order to get the business up and running; however, there are multitudinous business opportunities that require little to no initial investment, especially when you start looking at online business opportunities.
The brief article will walk you through some of the options that you have at your disposal. You can also check out my book Earn $100 in 24 Hours Online to get some great ideas that you can implement immediately.
Things to Consider Regardless to the Route You Take
When analyzing different options in the business market, there are certain things that should be considered regardless of what direction you believe you are heading in. According to Chris Guillebeau, the author of The $100 Startup, in order to experience success when launching a business without a lot of capital, it is immensely important to give some serious consideration to your particular skill set and how you can use your skill set to help others.
Resell and Existing Product
Reselling existing products is one of the simplest ways to make money. There are a number of ways that this can be done. One of the most common ways of doing this is to open up an online retail business in which you promote products that are housed and shipped by another company. This is called drop shipping. There are some companies that will house the product and ship the product under your name. This gives the customer the impression that the merchandise is coming from you. Shopify has a great drop shipping guide that will walk you through the process of how to set up your business.
Affiliate marketing is also a powerful mechanism for making money without having to make an initial investment. There are step-by-step plans in Earn $100 in 24 Hours Online that explain everything that you need to know about affiliate marketing. Basically, affiliate marketing is the process of promoting other business’s services and products and then receiving a commission for every sale that you produce. There is almost an endless list of programs that offer affiliate programs, such as RapBank, Click Bank, Amazon and more. You can find products in any niche that you can possibly think of. There is even a niche for showing people how to build niches.
Selling Your Own Services
If you have a skill set such as writing, accounting or any value-rich service that people are willing to pay for, you can start your business with very little capital. In some cases, you can start without any capital, if you are willing to post ads in the online classifieds. However, I would recommend investing in an online presence, such as a website. A website provides immediate credibility, and it provides a conduit through which you can promote your business.
In order to build, promote and brand your business, there are certain things that you will need to learn, and there are plenty of online tools that will help minimize the learning curve. For instance, there will be a need to understand how to drive traffic to your website. What good is a website that is not getting any visitors? There are some great online eBooks that can help you out in this area. One book that does a good job helping with traffic is Instant Traffic Short Cuts. One of the biggest mistakes made by new business owners is failing to put in the time and effort to build solid and consistent traffic to their site. Instant Traffic Short Cuts will definitely help get you off to a great start.
Branding is Vital
Branding is an essential element to the building of any business, and the logo is one of the best places to start. A good logo is simple, but unique. It has the capacity to deliver the primary message of the business, and it should be recognizable at a glance. Hiring a graphic designer to create a logo can be expensive, but fortunately, there is a great resource called 5 Minute Logos, which allows you to create professional looking logos is a little as five minutes, without having to use Photoshop. What is good about this resource is that not only can you use it to create your own logo, but you can also use it as a side business opportunity, creating logos for others.
Building a Profitable and Responsive Email List
The one thing that has remained steady throughout the expansion and evolution of online enterprise is the effectiveness of email lists. A responsive email is priceless, and your ability to build a responsive and profitable email list is vital. One of the best resources available to show you how to successfully build a list that is capable of producing a six-figure income Kick-Ass List Building. This guide provides step by step instructions on how to build a list that you will be able to use over and over again to present products and services to your customers.
When it boils down to it, you can build an online business with little to no money; however, it is worth investing a small amount of capital in resources that will help to save you time. You can purchase how-to resources and build a site for a couple of hundred dollars easily, and once you get things going you can always upgrade the site and any other elements of the company that you wish to upgrade. When it comes to building a website or blog, I would personally suggest using WordPress. WordPress is easy to set up, and you can have your site up and running in less than an hour, if you already have the content.
Content is immensely important for the purpose of search engine optimization and customer engagement. You want to create content that is relevant to your target audience. If you are not up to the task of creating the content, my PR and Marketing firm, Odyssey Media Group will be more than happy to handle that for you at a very reasonable fee, simply email me at rickwallace@odyssey-mediagroup.com.
There are numerous other options that I will begin sharing in an upcoming post, such as blogging, freelance writing, CPA promotions and more. Until then, check out some of the opportunities mentioned here and get started. Remember, there are no perfect moments, you have to simply step out and take control. ~ Dr. Rick Wallace, Ph.D.