A lot of top entrepreneurs of today, started their own business with almost no upfront investment and rose to the top with sheer skills. Take an example of Richard Branson, who has built a multi-billion-dollar brand with almost no money, he started as low as $2000 and says, “There’s no doubt it can be easier to achieve lofty ambitions if you already have financial backing,” he writes, “but in many cases you don’t need lots of money to start a business.”
All it takes is some great efforts on your part and persistence in making your business work to create a name for yourself.
There are several online business ideas you can start with no money at all! These are businesses where you can incrementally generate income, invest it back into the business to grow it further. In this blog, we will discuss about the top business ideas you can start with no money.
12 Online Businesses to Start Even When You Have No Money
Money shouldn’t be the only thing that’s stopping you from starting a business. Here are some proven, practical ideas for starting your business.
1. Blogging
Everyone has something that they are interested in. It can be pet animals, your profession, any hobbies you have or even binge-watching. You can convert your interest into a blog and make money out of it!
You don’t really need to invest money in blogging at least when you are getting started. There are several blogs where you can start a free account such as medium and slowly build your authority. You can also write on blogs of external websites as guest blogger to get good publicity. Having stated that I do recommend having your own blog and website once you have a good follower base, say 500 visitors or more per day. You can get started with hosting companies such as :
2. Dropshipping
Dropshipping is basically where you maintain an online store and promote the products. You don’t have to keep track of the inventory or the warehouse. You also don’t have to do the job of shipping the products. All you need to do is to facilitate a platform to list and promote the products. Once the sale is made, the seller will take care of the rest.
It’s not necessary that you need to have your own website to start a dropshipping business. You can sell on some e-commerce platforms such as shopify and auction sites for free too.
3. Video Editing
Are you the one your friends go to for editing their videos?
If so, then you can convert it into a real business!
All you need to have is a decent video editing software to start your own business. Several businesses require video editors to create quality video content. You can help in the creation of promotional videos, branding advertisements and even editing short films.
4. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn income from the companies you partner with.
Instead of creating new products of your own, you can partner with various brands that already have active products in the market, promote their product via blogs, ebooks, videos, reviews etc. and get a portion of their revenue as affiliate commission.
You can get started with joining an affiliate network like:
5. Digital Information Products
Talking about passive income, here’s yet another business where your skills are needed the most at the beginning. You can create digital products such as ebooks, courses and webinars and start selling such content through your website and on other external portals to earn money.
Thinkific is a good alternate platform to launch courses online if you have something to teach for instance.
6. Freelance Writing
Are you great at putting ideas into words that resonate the best?
Well then, freelance writing is one of the best, attractive online business ideas you can start with no money. All you need is the right skill and the ability to create content that converts the users. There are several sub-domains in freelance writing like copywriters, content writers, ad writers, ghost-writers, etc. You can choose any one, specialize in that field, create a strong portfolio and keep roping in new clients.
7. Social Media Consultation
If you are something of a whiz on social media or if you have a got many followers, then you can advise many others to do the same.
Social media consultancy is one of the most alluring job prospects of today. Many brands, start-ups and individuals are looking for practical suggestions to increase their followers, their post visibility and conversion rates through social media. As a social media consultant, you are expected to study their metrics, strategies and social media content and give them inputs on the ways to better their overall social media operations.
8. Web and Graphic Design
There is a definite need for web designers and graphic designers in the market today. If you are already working full-time as a designer and have a creative mind, then you can quickly start your own business. Undullify is a great example of teams working on designs alone and serving clients globally for instance.
9. SEO Consultant
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a mandate for every website and that’s why SEO consultants are given a great importance. The job of an SEO consultant is to analyze the existing website, review the analytics, study customer responses and provide actionable advice to improve their website presence and search engine rankings.
You can get comprehensive view of your client’s search engine presence by using tools such as:
10. App Developer
Many businesses are creating mobile apps for their businesses. So, becoming an app developer is an evergreen field right now. You can start your own business as an app development company, you will need coding knowledge and experience though!
Start by creating a few apps to show in your portfolio and soon enough, you will start getting good projects. As an app development company, you need to keep yourself updated with the latest development in the market to have a competitive advantage.
11. Provide Childcare Services
Though this business is conducted offline, the presence of your business online is vital. As a childcare service provider, you will provide nanny, babysitter and caretaker for families who require outside help to look after their children.
You can hire employees for your company and create a good online presence for your business later. You don’t need to have any money to start this job as you can go as a babysitter yourself, earn some money and slowly build this business from the ground up.
12. Tax Preparation
Do you have any experience in accounting?
If so, you can help people out with their tax preparations as a side business. Even if you don’t know anything about tax preparation, there are so many online courses available and offline training sessions. You can ace this job in a few months and then start the business without even a dollar. QuickBooks is a great software to start learning the basics from.
You just need to know your way around Excel and you can start providing tax preparation services for individuals and businesses.
What Can You Do Next.
The main crux of starting any business is to find a domain in which you are interested and something which helps you make good money. Therefore, make sure to pick out one idea from this list, weigh the pros and cons, match it with the skills you have and time you can spend and start an online business. You don’t necessarily need to start the business full-time. You can start it as a side hustle, test out the waters and then slowly transition to a full-time business.