Having our own business is something that many of us have been dreaming of. Unfortunately, there were always obstacles that kept us from fulfilling this dream in the past, with money being a major hindrance. These days, starting a business has actually gotten much easier and a lot of it is thanks to the internet, which acts as an effective equalizer.
Today, we’ll be talking about some of the best startup ideas that will cost you little to no money. Some of these you might already be aware of, but others are likely going to surprise you.
Online Retail
The online retail scene might seem crowded, which doesn’t leave much room for startups to squeeze in. However, this isn’t necessarily the case, provided you know the right approach. In a world dominated by the Amazons and the eBays, there is still room for specialized, targeted online businesses.
You basically need to create an especially niche startup that only needs to target a small portion of the traffic surfing the web on a daily basis. Even this small portion can still net you hundreds of thousands of potential customers. After that, it’s just a matter of choosing what niche product or service you are going to offer.
If you need sample items to base your products on, it’s best to get them for cheap to avoid burning through your cash. You could also travel to exotic locations if you want to sell more unique products to your equally eccentric clientele. You can read more on Ctrip deals and others on that subject to save on travel expenses. There are plenty of resources available to give you the information you need.
Virtual Assistance
Have you ever wanted to provide personal assistant services to multiple clients but from the comfort of your own home? Just as you can run a home-based bookkeeping business, you could also run a virtual assistant business, if you want to. Now, as is the case with a lot of the most successful startup businesses, this concept might seem odd at first but hang in there.
The idea is simple; provide virtual assistant services to a number of clients from all corners of the country or even the globe. You can have multiple clients, if you are willing to put in the time. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you could then hire other people to offer the same services. Before you know it, you can have a thriving service-oriented business with both local and remote employees.
Specialized Travel Booking
Travel and tour agencies have been around for years, so this may seem like an odd choice, but there are still opportunities in the industry that you can tap into. Instead of focusing on just general travel booking services, choosing a specialty can open new doors for you.
For example, your travel booking service could be all about finding the very best rates from other, more established travel booking companies. Instead of customers slogging through the numerous other travel agencies in the market, online or otherwise, you can find them the best deals that they could are available.
This could come in the form of the cheapest tickets, bundling great services together such as car rentals and hotel rooms, or appealing packages that include tours and special museum rates. You can always look for Klook deals, for example, or other types of specialized services.
Online Marketing
You may or may not know this, but the internet has a thriving marketing ecosystem. Major search engines like Google and Bing, and even social media networks like Facebook and Twitter all depend on advertising revenue. This makes the internet a perfect place to put whatever marketing skills you might have to use and turn a profit.
Every day, new online businesses and even traditional businesses that want to get more exposure are looking for competent marketing service firms to give them that exposure. If you have a knack for convincing people to try out services or buy products, you could offer them the services of your small marketing agency. It hardly takes any money to set up a website and your biggest capital is your personality. This could be your startup success story.
Online Bookkeeping
If you are good with numbers, or better yet, if you are a trained bookkeeper, you can turn that into a business. Running a bookkeeping business from home has gotten a lot easier thanks to the internet and you can find clients using legitimate platforms like Freelancer.com.
There are even free tools to help you out with tasks like invoicing, if you want. Naturally, you would see a lot more success when you are trained in accounting. If you don’t mind putting in the time to learn, you can always check out Udemy.com for some legitimate online courses.
