Money shouldn’t necessarily be the reason a great idea gets shelved but sadly, a lack of cash is often the biggest reason why entrepreneurs put their plan on hold. It’s easy to assume that the only way a business will get off the ground is with major funding or the ability to raise ridiculous amounts of money, but that isn’t always the case. Fortunately, starting a business with no money (or very little) is entirely achievable according to Instant Offices.
A Few Success Stories for Inspiration:
• The Kingston Group, an American residential construction and remodelling firm, was started by two childhood friends with around $500 to cover licensing fees. Six years later it grew into a 3-million-dollar company.
• Richard Branson’s probably one of the most inspiring stories for any entrepreneur. With just £300 from his mother he started his magazine ‘Student’, which was the catalyst for the entire Virgin Company. Today he’s worth over 5.1 billion dollars.
• Having pooled together $8,000 of their own cash and taking out loans, the three founders of Starbucks took their idea and ran with it, turning the company into a billion-dollar company almost 10 years later.
• Billionaire founder of Topshop Philip Green started his company with $20,000. He used the startup capital to import jeans from the Far East to sell to London retailers.
• Using a $700 loan, John Paul DeJoria co-founded the Paul Mitchell line of hair care products and went on to become a billionaire businessman. It’s virtually impossible to avoid incurring any costs at all when starting a business, but there are a few ways to keep them to an absolute minimum and still get things to progress.
1. Source Cash in Creative Ways
When bank loans, pitching to investors and other funding methods aren’t an option, creative entrepreneurs find a way to raise the cash they need.
Start by looking at what you already have, like savings, investments or retirement funds, and only invest what you can afford to lose. If you don’t have any savings to tap into don’t worry, there are loads of creative ways to look at raising the cash you need.
In 2008 Cynthia Kersey threw herself a 50th birthday party and invited everyone she knew, asking them to each donate $100 instead of a gift. With the money she launched The Unstoppable Foundation, a non-profit which focuses on giving children access to education.
The two founders of Airbnb managed to raise $25,000 for their business by buying cereal in bulk and boxing it with a clever name. They sold their Obama O’s at a Democratic National Convention for $40 each and managed to raise the cash they needed to fund the now billion-dollar company.
Two More Ways to Source Cash:
o Angel Investors: These are wealthy individuals who invest in exchange for partial ownership of a company.
o Crowdfunding: If you believe your idea is good enough why not take it to the masses and try to attract funding?
2. List Your Connections
It’s not what you know it’s who you know, a statement uttered so often in business because it’s inescapably accurate. Start by making a list of connections and consider how they could help you. Do you know someone you could trade skills with? Perhaps you know someone that could build you a website for a minimum cost, or introduce you to their network of business contacts in return for your skills on a project of theirs? You could even consider selling your services to raise money.
3. Start Small
Instead of launching a business with a full product or service offering, simplify your strategy and start off small. It not only takes off the pressure significantly, but by concentrating on one product or service you’ll save on initial cash outlay. Offering a single service or product in the beginning also enables you to focus on a defined target audience, building from there as the concept strengthens.
4. Be Creative
Make something that you can sell online. If the product is good enough, marketplaces like Etsy, eBay and Amazon may just do the work for you by marketing and selling it to their immense audiences. If you’re not into making your own products, how about reselling other people’s products? Some of the biggest fashion ecommerce sites are based on this principle, curating and selling items to their own communities. If you have a skill or a speciality, all you need are the tools of your trade to start a service business; this requires very little investment and is a great way to start small in your local area.
5. Stop Procrastinating
Fear of failure is one of the biggest killers of great ideas. Don’t wait for everything to be perfect before you start your business, and don’t let a lack of cash stop you from developing something that could end up paying off in the long run.
The information in this article is provided by www.instantoffices.com/en/gb.
The Instant Group is the global flexible workspace specialist. Underpinned by unrivalled expertise, Instant tailors unique solutions to help businesses of all sizes to grow, drive savings or gain invaluable insight. Established in 1999, The Instant Group has achieved 23% compound growth over the past four years and continues to expand with private equity funding secured from MML Capital in 2012. With offices in London, Berlin, Dallas, New York, Hong Kong and Sydney, The Instant Group employs more than 100 experts and has clients in 113 countries. For more information, visit www.theinstantgroup.com.
