Do you want to start a business and you have no money to invest? if yes, this article is for you.
Starting a business with no money is not as hard as you might think, there are many ways you can start a business and become a successful entrepreneur with no monetary investment at all.
Now we come to the big question, how can you start a business with no money? this is not an uncommon question, and fortunately, there are many different ways to do it!
However, the businesses we are going to list in this article don’t require a money investment, they require you to invest your time, effort, and dedication, some require some type of skills.
Some businesses require more of your time than others, but at the end of the day, all you need is dedication and consistency if you want to make money from home or start your own company with no money.
Here are 7 businesses you can start with no money investment:
1. Print on Demand
Print on demand is an online business you can start with absolutely no monetary investment, and start making money in no time.
How it works is you go to a website that offers print-on-demand service, my favorite website is Redbubble, you chose white label products such as T-shirts or hats then you customize the white label with your own design and sell them on the supplier’s website.
The supplier will print your design only when someone orders one of the products.
They can be anything from t-shirts to mugs, phone cases with custom designs printed on them.
You might be thinking you don’t have graphic design experience, how are you going to make this work? Well, the good news is you don’t need to be a graphic designer to start this business.
You can easily customize products and sell using a free Canva account which allows you to make simple graphics without any experience or skills.
Although this business is easy to start with no investment or skills, you need to choose a low competition niche to succeed, as some of the niches are pretty competitive.
For example, if you print a T-shirt that targets entrepreneurs it might be a lot harder for you to stand out and start making sales fast since there are a lot of other products that target the same people.
Instead, find a group of people that are overlooked and create designs that target those people.
Another interesting thing about print-on-demand business is you don’t need to worry about marketing, the supplier you work with will do that for you.
Requirements:
- Laptop
- Canva free account
2. Online Tutoring
Selling online courses is a great way to start making money online, and it is a lot easier than you think.
The first thing that might come to your mind when I mentioned selling online courses is you can’t teach anything, or you are not a specialist, or you don’t have the right equipment to start, well you don’t need all of that.
Whatever knowledge you have someone out there is interested in learning, and if you can’t figure that out you can easily go to YouTube and watch tutorials on simple things like photoshop tutorials, watch a few tutorials and learn the basics, then you can create a course for “beginners guide to photoshop” and start selling.
The good thing about this is you don’t need to have a camera or microphone to do this, all you need is photoshop and a screen recorder.
Although photoshop requires a monthly subscription, you can start with a free trial and record as many tutorials as possible within the trial period.
Once you create your course you can start selling on websites like Udemy or Skillshare.
Requirements:
- Laptop
- Free screen recorder like OBS
3. Virtual Assistance
This is my favorite business to start with no monetary investment, I am a virtual assistant myself and have been enjoying the business for a few years.
How virtual assistance works is you become a middle man between companies who need assistance with their business tasks. You can do anything from scheduling social media posts, answering emails to helping out with data inputting or other basic office tasks.
To get a better idea of the services you can offer take a look at my services page here.
The best part is how much you get paid for these virtual assistant jobs! Depending on how fast your work and how many clients are in your queue, you can make a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars every month.
I have been able to start this business with no money simply because I used my previous office skills from working at the front desk of an accounting firm and combined it with how much time I spent on social media during those years as well as how fast my typing speed is.
Start by selecting a few services you can offer and start reaching prospective clients on social media and email outreach, you can also create an account on freelancing platforms like freelancer.com or fiverr.com and start bidding on projects.
Basically, becoming a successful virtual assistant takes time and marketing, but once you start building your clients list you will become an agency in no time.
Requirements:
The requirements depend on the type of services you are going to offer and the marketing strategy you choose to implement.
4. Digital Products
Selling digital products is an easy way to start a business with no investment, digital products include eBooks, graphic resources, or apps.
Instead of selling online courses, you can make a comprehensive guide or anything someone might be interested in and make it in a form of an eBook or audio and start selling on platforms like Etsy.
Also, if you have graphic design knowledge you can make graphic resources and sell on platforms like Envato elements or Freepik.
The same thing with mobile apps, if you want to learn how to become an app developer, there are many free tutorials on the internet that can help you learn with time.
Requirements:
The requirements depend on the type of digital products you chose to start selling, but generally, you will need a laptop or smartphone, and a free trial of photoshop will be required if you chose to sell graphic resources.
5. Affiliate Marketing
If you ever search how to make money online you probably heard of affiliate marketing.
The problem is there is a lot of misguided information about affiliate marketing on the internet.
Many articles on the internet will make you believe that you can become a millionaire with affiliate marketing without any effort, and that is not how it really works.
The truth is you can become a successful entrepreneur with $0 investment with affiliate marketing, provided you learn how it works and you put enough effort and dedication into the business.
Here is how affiliate marketing works, you promote someone else’s products or services using a unique clickable link, and anytime someone makes a purchase through your referral you get a commission.
The most common channels for affiliate marketing are YouTube, Blogs, and social media.
The best channel, if you don’t want to spend money on a blog or YouTube equipment, is using social media, you can use Pinterest, Instagram, or Facebook to promote your affiliate links.
The channel I find more effective is Pinterest, especially if your target customers are women.
However, I recommend you do a lot of research about affiliate marketing before you start, that will help you start the right way and have a higher chance of success.
Requirements:
- Laptop or Smart Phone
- Social Media Account
- Active Affiliate Links
6. Freelancing
Do you have specific skills that are on demand? if you think so, freelancing might be a great option for you.
Freelancing is when you sell a specific service to multiple clients in need, as a self-employed individual.
There are many different types of freelancers out there and the main categories are website developers, graphic designers, content writers, UI/UX designers, etc.
Starting a freelancing business is easy and doesn’t cost any money, the easiest way to start is to go to freelancing platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, People per Hour (for content writers) create an account, and start finding clients.
If you are in doubt, click here to see a list of services you can offer as a freelancer.
Requirements:
- Soft skill
- Computer
- And other tools related to the skills you intend to sale
7. Sale Stock Images
This business is self-explanatory, basically, you just need to have a good camera, doesn’t have to be a digital camera, your smartphone might be all you need.
Take interesting pictures of literally anything and start selling on websites like Shutterstock, Envato, or Freepik.
This is among the easiest method to start a business with no investment, but it is also the one that provides less revenue.
However, if you know how to take pictures that stand out and are in demand, you going to earn more than you expected.
Requirements:
- High-Quality Camera (digital or smartphone)
- That’s all you need 😉
Conclusion
Starting a business with no monetary investment is possible and anyone with the right amount of effort and dedication can become a successful entrepreneur without any financial risk.
By coming to this point I believe you are serious about starting your own business, and in that case, I have my final advice for you which is to start before you are ready.
If you think you have to feel ready before you start your business you need to push that thought away and start right now, because the one sure way of failure is to never start, therefore, start, make mistakes, and learn how to do better, you will thank me letter :).
Lastly, if you find this article helpful feel free to share it using the social media buttons below.
You can also check out recent articles on the Benefits of Hiring Virtual Assistants and Everything you Need to Know About Independent Contracting.
