The $0 Startup – Building A Business With No Money

 

Many people have been encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship with books like the $100 startup and many other great reads. While these books are great reads, I believed that I could build a successful business without investing a single dollar to start.

 

 

Rewinding back 3 and a half years ago, I had a business idea. I believed that I could build a successful multimedia agency and deliver websites, videos, mobile applications, and online marketing services to companies everywhere.

 

 

I was 17 at the time and I began looking at the expenses of getting started the ‘right’ way. I read and researched online and people made lists of essential things you must have to start your business.

 

 

The sad thing was, I had nothing and I couldn’t afford to put any money in. Thus, I decided not to put a single dollar in and give it a shot regardless. I did alright.

 

 

I grew the business to about 15-16 employees at its peak. I had my own team of designers/developers, online marketers and sales people on my payroll. I ran it for 2 years and ended up selling it before moving on to my next venture.

 

 

This was really the $0 startup. I started with nothing, I came out with something. I came out with a profit and some amazing experience which would help me later on.

 

 

In this blog article, I’m going to share how to build a business with no money aka the $0 startup.

 

 

Compete, But Don’t Compare

 

I was in competition with thousands of other multimedia agencies in the world fighting for the same business. I knew they were better than me starting off, but I refused to compare myself to them.

 

 

I didn’t stop myself from competing though. I couldn’t compare with them because I just didn’t have the resources and tools necessary to fight them head on when I had just started.

 

 

I went out selling websites to companies when I myself didn’t have a website for my own business. Most people would find this embarrassing or as an excuse to not pursue their business, but I frankly didn’t care.

 

 

I knew there was one customer somewhere that would give me a shot even with my lack of anything. After 40-50 NO’s, I finally got my first yes weeks later. I got my first website project.

 

 

I found a team in India to outsource the project to and weeks later, I delivered my very first project. My investment was $0 but I had just collected a check for $850. I took every dollar and invested it back into the business to build my own website. Game on!

 

 

Think Outside The Box

 

Most people would deem it rather difficult to portray yourself as a competent agency without having any portfolio or experience in your field. It was very difficult, but it wasn’t going to stop me from doing what I wanted.

 

 

When clients asked me where my portfolio was and why I had no website, I simply told them that I was flooded in so much work that I didn’t have time to upload these things. Most people didn’t believe it for a second, but when someone finally did – I got my first sale.

 

 

Unless you inherit a shit ton of money, starting off is the toughest part of all. You have nothing to begin with and in order to create something, you have to hustle and be creative. Find a way to get paid upfront!

 

 

I had lots of hustle and tons of creativity, which helped me out. You’re not going to have everything handed to you in a silver platter, so you have to solve problems and think logically on how you can break out of your constraints.

 

 

Stay Persistent 

 

After my first 10 NO’s, I could have said it was a stupid idea and given up. However, my passion and determination for this project was not going to stop me. I knew that everyone would say NO because I myself would have probably said NO.

 

 

However, I knew that if I stayed persistent and kept trying – someone would bite. Weeks later it happened just as I had planned. I changed my pitch each meeting and I did everything I possibly could to close these customers.

 

 

The hardest part of starting off is believing that your idea is gold. We start off falling in love with our ideas but as the NO’s pile up, we lose faith rather quickly.

 

 

There is a formula to building successful businesses, which most people don’t know. This lack of knowledge attributes to over 9/10 startup businesses failing but having the right formula can be the difference between success or fail. I recently published a course sharing my secrets to building a business.

 

 

When times get tough, think about why you started. Use your initial passion and motivation to keep pushing until you get your first customers. You don’t always need a product or experience to get a customer.

 

 

Think Team

 

Even though I never ended up putting people in my company for equity, I probably could have grown faster and achieved more had I done so. When you’re bootstrapped, you need to get all the help you can.

 

 

Trading equity for help is one of the best things you can do early on. You’re essentially getting free labor in exchange for money later on (if it comes).

 

 

If you decide to build your startup with no money, the only thing you have to give out is equity. Use it carefully and value it like it’s the only money the business has so that you don’t get careless with it.

 

 

Closing Tips

 

Below are a list of more tips on how you can start your business with no money invested:

 

 

– Barter. Trading resources and tools is an extremely smart way of building your business.

 

– Network. Meet as many people in your industry as you can because sometimes it just takes one connection to change the game.

 

– Fake it. Everyone says to fake it till you make it, but initially as a startup you have to look bigger than you really are to bring in the big fish.

 

– Discount. I gave my first website out for $850 because I knew any revenue was better than no revenue.

 

– No office. You don’t need an office, use your garage or whatever space you have to make it work. Meet people at their place.

 

– Scale slowly. I could have added my own team of employees the moment I got my first website, but I didn’t. I outsourced for months until I had steady cash flow before bringing my first employees on board. Scale carefully.

 

– Find the free version. No matter what you need, there is almost always a free alternative. Spend some time searching and you will eventually find what you need.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Building a business with no money is definitely possible. The tips shared above will help you build your own $0 startup!

 

 

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