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Many people avoid starting a business because of startup costs. Check out these business ideas that require minimal to no start-up capital. [[{“value”:”
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Three business start-up costs that can really hit your bank account hard are rent, inventory, and staff. So if you can minimize all three of these, you eliminate a big chunk of the cost of starting a business.
How do you do that? By making your time, knowledge, and skills your product. It won’t require office space, there’s no inventory to buy, and you’ll be your only employee (at first). Here are just a few examples of how you could make this work.
1. Educational or training company
If you have a skill and you can teach it to others, the business possibilities are endless. You can start with a simple tutoring company, helping young folks learn the basics. (It’s easier if you have an advanced degree, but being patient is the most useful skill you can have here.)
It doesn’t have to be academic, though. You can create an educational company teaching any kind of skill you happen to have mastered. You’ll even have the choice of whether to do so in person or digitally.
Folks interested in building passive income can put together online courses and sell them directly or through the various educational marketplaces (Coursera, Udemy, etc.). Or create an ebook and sell through Amazon and other retailers. Once the products are put together, your costs are really limited to whatever marketing you choose to do.
2. Digital marketing firm
If you’re handy with social media and spreading the word about the things you love, consider doing so for a living. Lots of businesses will happily hire you to handle social media and email marketing campaigns.
Most of the start-up cost for this type of service will be in your own time, as you’ll want to research best practices and make sure you’re up to date on the latest SEO (search engine optimization) rules and trends.
This is the type of business where a history of proven results will be what drives your growth and profitability. In other words, you may have to work for cheap to build up your reputation, but you can charge more as your skills grow.
3. Pet-walking and sitting agency
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, there are around 62 million households in the U.S. with dogs and 37 million households with cats. That is a very, very large potential market.
When those tens of millions of people go to work, their dogs still need walks. When those people go on vacation, their cats’ litter boxes still need to be cleaned. Folks who are good with animals can easily capitalize on these widespread needs.
If you can set up a regular list of daily dog walking or semi-annual pet sitting clients, this could be a consistent and profitable business. (Make sure to look into any necessary safety certifications or liability insurance that may be required in your area.)
4. Event-planning company
Are you hyper-organized and great at details? You can make some great money helping the rest of us put together various major events.
Sure, this could be weddings. But that’s hardly the only event people plan. Here are just a few examples of events you could help manage:
Birthday partiesCompany socialsHoliday gatheringsIndustry conventionsCraft or art fairsFundraisersConcerts
Any time a large group of people comes together, there are going to be a lot of moving parts. Folks who can keep all the plates spinning are always in demand. Best of all, your only start-up overhead will be getting the word out that you’re ready to help!
5. Consulting firm
Despite what the movies would have you believe, not all consultants are actually spies. Some of us are just people with specialized knowledge putting it to good use.
In general, people hire consultants when they have a problem they need solved and they don’t have anyone in-house to solve it. It’s likely a temporary problem, so they don’t want to hire a permanent employee. That’s where you come in. You have specialized knowledge and the ability to use that knowledge to solve problems. That’s all you need.
The most difficult part of setting up a consulting business is going to be getting it going. This is a word-of-mouth type of business, so you’ll probably need a few connections in your industry to get started. (Ideally, you made those connections while you were building the skills and knowledge base you’re now trying to profit off of, so you already have an “in.”)
You are your best commodity
In my experience, most people are far more useful than they give themselves credit for. Almost everyone has a skill or ability they can market to others. Yes, even simply being patient is a marketable skill (one that many of us lack these days, it seems). Whatever you can do, you can probably find a way to build a business around it.
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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Brittney Myers has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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