How to Start a Business That Costs Next to Nothing

by Joshua Botello

Many of our small business owners get intimidated when they are looking to open their business because of the paperwork and cost involved in getting started. In this video, I show you 4 tactics to start your small business for next to nothing so you can get started faster and cheaper.

START HOME-BASED SERVICE BUSINESS

First, you need to think about what kind of small business you want to start. If you are looking to spend the least amount of money then you want to see about doing a home-based service business.

Unlike product or retail businesses, you don't need to buy a minimum amount of inventory and keep it in your garage. This could save you several hundred dollars in inventory costs.

All you really need is a computer to do your work or proposals and a cellphone to take calls and make appointments. You can be a blogger, consultant, or photographer and start with no money you have to invest providing you already have the equipment to start.

DO BUSINESS IN YOUR OWN NAME

A lot of our small business owners looking to start to want fancy names, build a brand and have a “company” but if you are just starting out and want to get going quickly, then you can do business in your own name.

In Los Angles County, you can start a business using your own surname like Botello Media or Snider Consulting and not have to worry about filing those pesky FBNs or DBAs. Doing it this way saves you about $100 dollars or more and all you need to do is “hang your shingle” as it were.

All this means is getting a $25 - $35 business license depending on where your home-based business will reside and get started!

USE FREE APPS

So you have your business started. Let’s get some work done. Don’t worry about paying for software like Microsoft Office or anything fancy like that. We need to go cheap, but powerful.

Just grab yourself a Gmail account to start and you get all your documents, slideshow, and even some storage for your business. Then grab yourself a free Zoom account to have business meetings or sales presentations and a free Calendly account set up an automated calendar to schedule those calls.

Once you get paid you can then use the free program Wave accounting to keep track of all that money for a business bank account that you can open up once you get paid.

GROW WITH DIGITAL MARKETING

Now that you have all your operational stuff in place. You need to get customers and grow. You need to invest some time in digital marketing. Social media is free, but it does take a lot of time and you need to pick the right platform for your type of customer.

If you're a consultant, you may want to go with Linkedin or if you're a photographer, Instagram might be right for you. Make sure you use business accounts to track your business on each platform or advertise when the time is right.

You can schedule posts in advance to save on time and actually think about a strategy. You can start a Youtube channel and create some educational videos and a free email marketing account from Mailerlite or MailChimp to sell more clients for steady growth.

Conclusion

You need to remember these 4 tactics are for you to start your business. As you grow you may need more robust programs, employees, or your own consultants to streamline your small business and increase your growth.

Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.