A great business idea with zero capital does not mean that your road to entrepreneurship is over. There are many ways to start a business with no money. In most cases, all you need is an entrepreneurial mindset: patience, hard work, creativity and a willingness to try new things.

This guide explains how to start your business with minimal money. The objective? Later, you can reinvest in growth to start making money.

From validating your idea to earning your first dollar, here’s how to start a business with no money.

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The first step in starting a business is developing an idea. If you’re not sure what that might be, here are six creative business ideas you can start with no money.

The easiest way to start a business with no money is to sell your services. Even if you don’t master a certain field, being better than the average person at something means you know how to start a business that helps them. So start by looking at the things you know how to do better than most people. Packages that define the capabilities in a service, such as:

Since you don’t have capital yet, start with what you have, like your experience, knowledge, skills, and resources. These are the best investments you’ll have when you only have $0. Ki Nishida, owner of the Japanese green tea company.

Don’t rule out a service business if you don’t have a particularly strong skill set. Your time is valuable; Busy people often pay someone else an hourly rate to do work they don’t want to do (or don’t have time for). This includes jobs such as:

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Many entrepreneurs abandon these small business ideas because they fear they will end up making minimum wage. But service-based businesses can be profitable. Some freelance writers earn six figures a year within two years of running their business. Even One Window Cleaner hit $250,000 in 12 months.

Drop Shipping is a popular business model for entrepreneurs who want to start a small business with no cash. Simply create an online store and choose a dropshipping supplier such as DSers or AliExpress. When an order is placed, your e-commerce platform will send the order information to your supplier. Your job is to pick up, pack and ship the order to your customer.

As a master’s student, I didn’t have much disposable income, so I decided to learn how to dropship. I decided to dropship on Wish because there was no talk of dropshipping to your own store or Amazon. Zaid Shahayat, founder of Fighthaus

The best thing about dropshipping is that you can start with a small budget. Instead of buying inventory before you sell it and storing that merchandise in expensive warehouses, sellers will only charge you for inventory when you sell it.

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The global market for personal products is estimated at $38 billion. Take advantage of this opportunity, even if you don’t have the initial cash to invest in inventory, with a print-on-demand company.

Print on demand is the process of labeling products (such as tote bags, t-shirts or caps) and selling them to order. Providers like Printful will print your design on inventory, ship it to the customer, and charge for their services after receiving payment from the customer.

We started with a print-on-demand service that brings the initial operational investment to $0. Basically, we were just a website to get started, to validate the idea. Kathryn Liebert, co-founder of #muhoov

Like drop-down shipping, there are minimal costs associated with starting this type of business because you will only pay for inventory when a customer requests it. There are also no storage costs for using the print-on-demand model, making it a worthwhile option if you want to start a business with $0.

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Prefer a more hands-on approach to starting a small business? Turn your hobby into a side hustle by selling handmade products through your online store or marketplaces like Etsy. This may include:

I started in a garage, buying powders from websites and picking up mixing jars wherever I could. Our first samples were hand delivered in Ziploc bags and powdered in a chimney. Carl Starkey, founder of AWSM Sass

Katrina Bell is an entrepreneur who took this approach by starting a business with no money. Now the owner of The Copper Bell, Katrina chose to sell candles because they “don’t have a big learning curve, don’t require any government oversight and regulation, and are easy to make in increasingly large batches.”

What initially started as a hobby became Katrina’s full-time job after she was laid off at the start of the pandemic. “I decided to take my business online very soon after that and I’ve enjoyed tremendous growth after a few months of full-time work,” she says. “Actual sales started in the fall of 2020 and I now run the business from a commercial manufacturing space instead of from home.”

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Bonus: For extra cash when you’re just starting out, package your craft supplies in a subscription box. The steady income you generate from repeat orders can be reinvested in the production of new inventory, giving you start-up capital without external funding.

Most of our profits are reinvested in inventory and advertising. We are trying to grow at a healthy pace so that we don’t have to rely on external investment. Francois Mathieu, co-founder of the Hojicha company.

Digital products are things you can create and sell with just an internet connection, so they’re a great way to start an online business with no money.

Start by identifying an area where you have more knowledge than the average person. Then research online to see what problems people have in space. Package your solutions into digital products such as:

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The beauty of digital products is that they are scalable. Make them once and sell them many times using the digital download app. It’s no wonder that many entrepreneurs use digital products as a form of passive income.

The word “influencer” has taken on a life of its own over the past decade. More people than ever are making money through social media. It just takes patience, social media savvy, and interesting content to share—three things that can be done for free.

Start by building your social media presence on a popular platform like Instagram or TikTok. But don’t jump in with the hard sell just yet. Followers can be monetized when they know, like and trust what you say.

Entrepreneurs have used this avenue to raise money for product-based businesses. For example, YouTuber Emma Chamberlain started posting videos on YouTube in 2017. She launched her first direct-to-consumer business, Chamberlain Coffee, just two years later to capitalize on her audience.

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A business plan is an outline of how you will grow your business. Your content will depend on the low-cost business model you choose. But generally it includes:

Need help writing yours? Here’s a free business plan template, complete with examples, to help you get started.

The next step in starting a business is choosing a name. It must be attractive, recognizable, and most importantly, not already taken. If you’re stuck, use this free business name generator for inspiration.

Remember: the name you choose will serve you for the life of your business. Make sure it’s what you like – and you can see the scale – to avoid headaches down the road.

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The process of starting a business from scratch is free so far. While it’s possible to continue down the $0 path, the best investment you can make is in an online store. Your website is the virtual home of your new business, one that you can use to inform potential customers about the products or services you sell.

If you’re on a budget, starter plans are just $5 per month after a 3-day free trial. It’s a small price to pay for a sleek and professional website that will help you make your first sales.

Starting a business with anything is trial and error. Some ideas will be hits. Others may not be as popular as you thought. Reduce risk by testing your ideas with pre-orders.

Advance payment for items on which you do not yet have to order work. It gives you upfront money to invest in production, generates publicity and creates a sense of exclusivity. People buy the chance to try something new in front of the crowd.

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Remy Martins is an entrepreneur who has taken this approach. after

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