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As a personal finance coach, many individuals ask me about businesses they can start when they have a limited amount of funds. Many small business owners start their businesses based on skills gained through their professional careers or a lifetime of learning. A few jobs you can start with limited to no funds are consulting, coaching, graphic design, or skilled trades like home repairs or painting. Branding your business is also important, so here are a few tips to get you started.
Businesses You Can Start with No Money?
Web Design for Small Business Owners
Many small business owners do not have a landing page for their website. This could be a no-cost business idea if an individual has the skills and abilities to create a website. The business owner would be responsible for hosting the website and providing the content. The only requirements are time and knowledge of the individual building custom websites for other small business owners.
In most states, becoming a notary public is a four-step process. You will be required to take an online course. Then you will need to locate a bonding agency, pay the minimal fee and complete your application. Once your application is approved, you can begin promoting your services in your local area or with online notary services.
Create a Consulting Firm
Depending on your chosen profession, you may be able to market your knowledge and skills to local or national businesses. If you work in human resources, you can start your own consulting firm and provide support to non-profits or small business owners trying to scale their businesses and develop legally compliant processes. As an accountant, you can provide bookkeeping services to business owners to help them organize their finances or file taxes. The possibilities are endless.
See my feature in Bizstarters: How To Start a Business with No Money
How do you Create a Branding Strategy to Scale and Market Your Small Business?
Expand Your Reach by Volunteering
Volunteering can help you grow your business by expanding your reach to other business owners, potential customers, and clients. Sharing your business knowledge with your local community through workshops or webinars can increase your credibility and act as a form of free marketing. Even if you don't make a connection immediately, your presentation and volunteer efforts can be shared by those you contact, resulting in future collaborative business partnerships and growth opportunities.
Encourage Personal Stories on LinkedIn
Personal stories are more compelling on any platform, but especially on LinkedIn. Having employees create personal posts about their experience with a company provides current and potential applicants with a glimpse inside the company. It builds the company's employer brand and compels the organization's followers to learn more about the employee experience. Combining posts with a custom hashtag also lets job seekers view all historical posts. When building a brand, you have to tell a story.
Use Canva as a Marketing Tool
Canva can be used for multiple marketing purposes. Canvas features allow you to create posts specific to each social media platform. It also contains templates for newsletters, YouTube covers, and even the ability to create and record a pitch deck. The free version of Canva has thousands of photos and available features, but the paid version may be a good choice if you want to elevate your marketing.
Remain Diligent in Your Efforts
As an entrepreneur, one habit that should be gained to be more successful is diligence. When you create your branding strategy, diligence requires that you continue putting in the work to accomplish the mission and vision that you have for your company. At times, it may seem that you are not making progress or not receiving the income you expected, but staying consistent in your efforts can bring about change. If you have a product- or service-based business, continuing your efforts to market your business shows potential and future customers that you are relevant and persistent in your efforts. All it may take is reaching one consumer or client and for them to value your product or service for word of mouth to expand your business.