How to Start a Business with No Money

If you want to start a business but you lack the capital, then you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, I’ll share with you the most popular strategies on how to start a business with little to no money.

I’ve personally tried and tested these strategies, which is why I believe that you, too, can start your business as well with just a little to no capital.

Start with Skills, not Capital

If you don’t have the money, why not offer your skills and time instead?

For example, if you are good at graphic design, you can offer it as a service to other businesses. Because time is valuable to businesses, they would rather focus their time on scaling their business than learning how to do Adobe Photoshop, Canva, or other editing tools and just outsource these skills to talented individuals.

Another example is Plankton Media, which is a web design and digital marketing agency that I founded. And because I’ve amassed learnings and experience through my personal projects, I’ve decided to help other small businesses as well.

Just with time, skills, and a few bucks for the website domain and hosting, I can now start a business with little to no money.

Keep in mind that while you may not have the money, you have plenty of time and skills that you can offer.

Leverage Free Tools, Platforms, and Existing Resources  

Today, it’s easier than ever to start your own business than ever before  because of technology.

Need a free tool for making your logo? There’s Canva. Can’t afford to build an online store for your cookie business and offer online deliveries? Why not consider registering as a merchant on foodpanda? Want to promote your brand online? Create social media pages. Need assistance with tax filing? There’s taxsumo.

There are countless tools at your disposal, and most of them are free.

If we would have lived before the advent of technology, it would be very hard for us to start having a business. So take advantage of these while they are here.

Leverage Other People’s Products

This is  another popular strategy that I suggest you do. You may not need to invest in inventory, but you can use other people’s products instead. This may sound crazy, but it is possible. Let me share with you my top 3 ways of doing this:

Dropshipping

Dropshipping is a very common ecommerce model these days. But what is it exactly? Dropshipping is about building a website, listing products from your supplier on your website, even without having on-hand inventory.

And when someone makes an order, their orders are then forwarded to your supplier, and then your supplier ships the product directly to your customer without you having to see the actual product. Pretty cool, right?

Keep in mind that starting a dropshipping business has its pros and cons too, so better to check my past ecommerce experience if you want to take this route.    

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate Marketing is when you promote products of your favorite brands through a unique affiliate link. This strategy is great, especially if you like to make regular content. You can naturally share your unique link through vlogs, blogs, or even on your social media pages.

So how does this work? When someone clicks your link and someone purchases from it, you’ll get a commission.

Here’s an example of how I use my Amazon affiliate link to promote a book from Robert Kiyosaki on my personal blog.

Consignment Deals

Here’s another popular and most common way of using other people’s products. Consignment deals allow you to carry out products without having to pay upfront for inventory.

How this works is that the consignor (supplier) usually gives you (consignee) a special term by allowing you to carry and use their products without paying them up front, and giving you a grace period for you to repay the items that they lend you.

And that’s usually plenty of time for you to repay your supplier and start the business with no money.

If you have been following me on my yearly recaps, you would know the consignment deal that I’ve done. The vegetable business that we’ve been operating was a great example of a consignment arrangement.

Our supplier entrusted us with truckloads of onions, and we only paid them when we sold them.

One of the challenges with these is that you have to build a solid, good relationship with the suppliers for them to entrust you with their products.  

Start a Digital Publishing Business

When I say Digital Publishing, this is not limited only to big media companies. These can be in the form of vlogs, blogs, podcasts, or any other platforms that share content digitally.

And yes, creating/distributing online content can be considered a business, also known as Digital Publishing. So if you love creating content, you need to start thinking as an entrepreneur and not just a hobby blogger/vlogger because there’s huge earning potential with this industry.

Monetization options for these are making money from Ads, affiliate marketing (which we discussed above), sponsorships, and selling a product.

An example of how I started in this industry is by building my own blogs.

By having a blog, I could leverage most of these monetizations throughout my blog sites (Personal blog, Plankton Media, FaultyBlogger, and Magpainsure.com)  

And it can really be a lucrative business without having you spend much capital. You just need to be committed to creating regular content.

Find a Partner

While you may not like the idea of having a partner when just starting out, it’s something I’d like you to consider because you can collaborate with other people who complement your skills and resources.

For example, most of the businesses that I started, I had the opportunity to be partnered with my friends. And though I don’t have the money to help with the capital, I offer them my skills and time instead.  

Final Thoughts

While it’s challenging, it’s possible that you can start a business with little to no money. You just need to be creative, be persistent, and resourceful.

So you’d better stop whining just because others have the resources, and you don’t. If I did it, then you can too.

Which strategy would you like to try when starting a business with no money? Let me know in the comments below.

This post was originally published on April 3, 2023, but has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Featured image credit: Nicola Barts