25 Oct Being the Boss on a Budget: 5 Inexpensive Business Ideas
So, maybe you’re sure that you want to start a business. You’re just that person – self-starter, likes independence, can take rejection, and finds the idea of being your own boss irresistible. Great. But, maybe funds are limited – that’s ok too. Consider one of these inexpensive business ideas — companies you can start on a budget. Whether it’s because you can’t get a loan or don’t want to dip into savings, here are low-cost entries with high growth opportunities.
Inexpensive business ideas help big dreams on small budgets:
New math. If you have experience as an accountant, you can offer accounting and bookkeeping services with nearly no start-up costs. Working from home with an online-only presence is entirely possible, especially since so many people are used to online financial services. If you are offering tax services to individuals, for example, many people already pay bills online, use online banking services and keep their documents in a cloud-based service like Dropbox.
While tax preparation is largely seasonal, you can find year-round opportunities by offering monthly bookkeeping services to businesses. Do be aware of any licensing requirements in the state where you chose to operate.
Smart pet tricks. If you like staying active and love dogs, dogwalking is still big business. In some areas it can be even more lucrative during certain seasons, or in urban areas where owners don’t want their pets locked inside of small apartments all day.
And the overhead is really next to nothing. Most places do not require that you have any particular experience or licensing, making it fairly easy to get started in an inexpensive business.
Copy cats welcome. Copywriting can be a great option for anyone who likes to write. If your background is in marketing, journalism, English, law, or business, you might find it a particularly good fit.
Opportunities include everything from preparing white papers, blogging for hire, or website content. Those with technical backgrounds in areas like medicine or law may find this especially lucrative given the industry-specific language that can be difficult to learn.
Learning curved. If you are a former teacher or speak a foreign language then tutoring might be the job for you. Most people think of tutoring as working with children or teenage students, but you can also help adults who are not native English speakers to learn or improve their English.
And if you do like teenagers — and haven’t forgotten your high school algebra, physics or Latin — you could find this an interesting option. It’s likely it will be quieter during the summer, and you will have clients literally graduate out of your services, so you will need to be comfortable getting new business.
Lost and found in translation. If you are fluent in more than one language, then there are multiple inexpensive business ideas that can leverage your translation abilities. As the world becomes more global, the ability to translate websites, marketing materials, and contracts can be very lucrative. In the United States, it’s helpful if one of those languages is English or Spanish, but if you provide assistance to businesses overseas, the combinations of useful translations are endless.
Inexpensive business ideas just require imagination and flexibility.
You don’t have to put at risk your life savings or take on tons of credit card debt to start a business (and you probably shouldn’t). Many businesses don’t require office space, employees or special equipment. Or at least they can start that way – once business is booming . . . well, then, that will be a good problem to solve.
