MileIQ: Mileage Tracker & Log

MileIQ Inc.

GET — On the App Store

View
MileIQPricing
Open MenuClose Menu
Small Business Tips

Starting a Business With Little or No Money

Manasa Reddigari
April 19, 2019

Download MileIQ to start tracking your drives

Automatic, accurate mileage reports.

Get Started

Don't have enough capital to start your dream venture? Many business ideas can turn a big profit with little or no upfront investment. Read on for tried-and-true ideas for starting a business with no money.

Offer a Service

Product-oriented businesses can consume significant capital for materials, manufacturing and distribution. When you operate a service-oriented business, you can avoid the costs of making goods.

Not sure what service to offer? Consider what you can do well that consumers have little time or expertise to complete themselves. If you have financial expertise, offer your services in accounting or bookkeeping.

Handy around the house? Offer services that require little or no supplies. These can include house cleaning, painting, basic carpentry, tailoring or care-taking. If you're a whiz with words or code, consider copywriting, social media management or web development business.

Starting a business with little money: Resell goods

Reselling businesses buy or otherwise acquire new or used goods and then resell them at a profit. You can avoid the cost of purchasing products altogether by parlaying your existing belongings into a virtual store.

Look around the house for textbooks, garments, accessories or antiques you are willing to sell. If you have a small budget, venture to garage sales or consignment stores to buy used goods at bargain-basement rates. Then, sell them back on eBay or at local thrift shops or garage sales to make a profit. If you start seeing success, you can eventually operate a full-blown virtual or physical store.

Download MileIQ to start tracking your drives

Automatic, accurate mileage reports.

Get Started

Join the sharing economy

Want to turn your car or home into a money maker? Sharing platforms are one of the first places to look when starting a business with no money. Ride-sharing platforms such as Lyft or Uber let you leverage one of the most valuable sources of capital you own, your car‚ into a taxi service.

Similarly, the Airbnb marketplace allows you to put your current lodgings to work as a real estate venture. You get the benefits of owning a physical inn without significant startup and maintenance costs.

Sell hand-made creations in online marketplaces

If you prefer to sell your own creations than a service, there are still a number of ways to make and sell goods on the cheap. You can minimize costs by selling handmade products on a small scale. These could include jewelry, fashion, artwork, toys and other crafts.

Consider your strength and then identify a suitable product you can make at a high quality and quantity. Avoid products that you can't easily scale up in production as demand increases.

Once you have made your product, you can sell it for a profit on popular online marketplaces such as eBay or Etsy. These platforms make it easy for consumers to find and purchase niche items. You can also sell your products in person at local craft fairs, thrift shops or garage sales. But a popular online marketplace can give your products greater exposure in front of customers than these venues.

Still tracking miles by hand?

Use MileIQ to automatically keep a full, IRS friendly mileage log.

Get Started

Related Blog Posts

Small Business Tips

How to find small business loans for women

Women make up more than 47% of America's workforce. We uncover resources behind small busines loans for women.

Filing taxes from the kitchen
Small Business Tips

What Is the Best Free Tax Software in Canda?

With so many tax software choices available in Canada, which tax software is suited to your specific needs? Read on to find out more.

Florist working on financial budget at laptop in flower shop
Small Business Tips

How to create a financial budget for a small business

A financial budget projects a business's future sales, costs, profits and cash flow. Here are six steps to create a small business budget

Small Business Tips

Build a successful sales strategy for your small business

You can tweet all day long, but all the ‘likes’ in the world won’t put money in your business account. When it comes to surviving in business, you need cold, hard cash. To bring money in, you’re going to have to understand sales techniques and sales-closing techniques.

UK Taxpayers need to complete a Tax Return by 31st January every year
Taxes

UK Tax Year 2019-20: Important Dates You Need to Know

Completing a self-assessment tax return and sending it to HMRC is a very pressing need indeed. Here are important tax dates you need to know.

A relaxing ride at the beach
Self Employed

The Best Retirement Options for the Self-Employed

Canadians have several different options available for funding retirement. Here are the key retirement saving routes.

MileIQ: Mileage Tracker & Log

MileIQ Inc.

GET — On the App Store

View
MileIQPricing
Open MenuClose Menu

Don't have enough capital to start your dream venture? Many business ideas can turn a big profit with little or no upfront investment. Read on for tried-and-true ideas for starting a business with no money.

Offer a Service

Product-oriented businesses can consume significant capital for materials, manufacturing and distribution. When you operate a service-oriented business, you can avoid the costs of making goods.

Not sure what service to offer? Consider what you can do well that consumers have little time or expertise to complete themselves. If you have financial expertise, offer your services in accounting or bookkeeping.

Handy around the house? Offer services that require little or no supplies. These can include house cleaning, painting, basic carpentry, tailoring or care-taking. If you're a whiz with words or code, consider copywriting, social media management or web development business.

Starting a business with little money: Resell goods

Reselling businesses buy or otherwise acquire new or used goods and then resell them at a profit. You can avoid the cost of purchasing products altogether by parlaying your existing belongings into a virtual store.

Look around the house for textbooks, garments, accessories or antiques you are willing to sell. If you have a small budget, venture to garage sales or consignment stores to buy used goods at bargain-basement rates. Then, sell them back on eBay or at local thrift shops or garage sales to make a profit. If you start seeing success, you can eventually operate a full-blown virtual or physical store.

Join the sharing economy

Want to turn your car or home into a money maker? Sharing platforms are one of the first places to look when starting a business with no money. Ride-sharing platforms such as Lyft or Uber let you leverage one of the most valuable sources of capital you own, your car‚ into a taxi service.

Similarly, the Airbnb marketplace allows you to put your current lodgings to work as a real estate venture. You get the benefits of owning a physical inn without significant startup and maintenance costs.

Sell hand-made creations in online marketplaces

If you prefer to sell your own creations than a service, there are still a number of ways to make and sell goods on the cheap. You can minimize costs by selling handmade products on a small scale. These could include jewelry, fashion, artwork, toys and other crafts.

Consider your strength and then identify a suitable product you can make at a high quality and quantity. Avoid products that you can't easily scale up in production as demand increases.

Once you have made your product, you can sell it for a profit on popular online marketplaces such as eBay or Etsy. These platforms make it easy for consumers to find and purchase niche items. You can also sell your products in person at local craft fairs, thrift shops or garage sales. But a popular online marketplace can give your products greater exposure in front of customers than these venues.

Get started for free