Starting at the Bottom: Low-Cost Businesses

In the past, starting a business was often expensive. It required finding investors or getting a big loan to even begin. But technology has made it possible to start a business with very little investment. Of course, there are still costs involved, which is why a lot of people still have to get financial help when they start their business. Perhaps Early Growth could help your business to manage the financial side of things, allowing you to focus on the business itself. Now, you just need to focus on finding your business idea. Luckily, there are numerous business ideas that are accessible to the average person – and you don’t even have to get a loan to try them out.

Affordable Business Ideas

1. Content creator

Content drives the internet. Blogs, videos, music, graphics and more are the building blocks of marketing and business in today’s world. There seems to be an unending thirst for content and businesses are paying people to create it. If you have a talent or a desire to create certain kinds of content, you could easily put yourself out there and attract business. It doesn’t take much to get started, either. You just need a laptop and ideas to start your content creation business. You can then liaise with other search engine optimization businesses to help the websites you are writing for appear higher in searches, helping businesses make their mark on the digital landscape.

2. Concierge services

Some errands take more time than busy professionals have – which presents a perfect opportunity for you to start a business to meet their needs. Concierge services and general errand running are things that you can do with very little investment and yet still charge a premium for. The more complicated the task, the more you charge. And you don’t even need a car to start this kind of business if you live in a city where you can bike or take public transit.

3. Social media management

Businesses large and small know that social media is an important marketing channel, which is why they hire people to manage their social media accounts. If you are skilled at social media, you could offer to serve small and mid-sized businesses that want to get better results from their social media efforts but don’t have the time to figure it out for themselves.

4. Etsy business

Etsy offers you a platform to build a store around something that you love selling – possibly making, too. You can learn the ropes of the platform pretty easily and start showcasing your products on there quickly. Like with anything, it takes practice and trial and error to figure out how to really make money on Etsy, but if you are motivated enough you can do it. This opportunity is particularly good for artists, makers and anyone who likes to create tangible products for their customers.

5. Reviewer

Some businesses will give you free products and even pay you to create reviews. It can take some time to get into this particular niche, but it can be done. You need to be willing to try out products and write honest reviews – without being unnecessarily harsh. If you really like reviewing products, you could transform your written reviews into video reviews as well. If you build a big enough following you could make money through both writing and video.

6. Online course designer

If you are knowledgeable in a particular field or about a certain subject, you may want to consider teaching others about it through online courses. Plenty of people make a business of designing and selling courses, either directly or for other sites that offer learning courses. It can be challenging at first to learn the ropes of online course design – since you may need to film videos, write assessments and do other tasks that are new to you. But after a few courses, you will get the hang of it and find that the course writing part becomes easier each time you do it.

7. Translation

If you are fluent in two languages you could easily offer your services as a translator, including translating spoken words and texts. The better you are at translation, the more you can charge and the more interesting jobs you can get. You can also make more money if you can translate languages that are in high demand, such as Mandarin. You can establish your own independent translation service and serve clients in person, over the phone and online.

8. Music instruction

If you know how to play an instrument and/or sing, you could start a small business as a music instructor and offer lessons to those in your area. Besides piano, you can expect students to bring their own instruments – which means the only things you would have to invest in would be sheet music and advertising.

9. Personal assistant

The internet makes it easier than ever to serve as someone’s personal assistant. They can tell you what they need done each day or even give you assignments for longer periods and you can go to work. A lot of personal assistant work is done for professionals who need someone to serve as their secretary, such as answering phone calls, taking messages and forwarding vital information. To operate a full-fledged business, you will need to get multiple clients and manage all of their needs simultaneously, so you need to be well-organized and calm under pressure.

10. Event planning

Event planning requires you to be on point and connected at all times – so it’s not a business for the timid. But if you are super organized and happy to talk to strangers and ask for things on behalf of your clients, you may have what it takes to plan events for various businesses and individuals. If you are not experienced in event planning but you would like to get into it, you can offer to plan events for free on behalf of local charities and other groups that need your services. Planning a few events for a good cause will give you a solid foundation in what it takes to plan and execute your plan with confidence.


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