While most people dream of starting and running their own business, their entrepreneurial spirits are often hampered by a lack of capital. It is no secret that it takes money, resources, and inventory to start a business, which prevents many from actualizing their dreams. The good news is that some companies out there are considered low investments and can even be started online as you sit in your home. They may still require the necessary inputs of any business, such as branding, marketing, and customer service, but you won’t break the bank starting these businesses.
So here’s a list of low-investment business ideas you can consider.
1. Freelancing
Offering a service in your area of expertise is a great business idea that requires almost no significant capital. The internet has become a haven for freelancers as it provides a cheap platform to source for clients. Sites such as Upwork and Fiverr are the perfect freelance marketplaces. If you’re highly skilled in writing, designing, developing, photography, cooking, or styling, then you can quickly start a full-fledged business to offer these services to those in need. For some of these services, you can even provide them from wherever you are, such as writing and developing.
2. Real Estate
Real estate is commonly associated with hefty investments, but you can start in real estate with less than $1000. You don’t need a lot of money to invest in real estate; you need to know how to make the most of your investment. Renting or flipping properties are lucrative real estate investments, but they do require large sums of money. The good thing is this money does not have to come out of your pocket. You can consider taking out a private loan, working with partners in a joint venture, opening a line of credit, wholesaling, or even crowdfunding as ways to get a foot into the real estate business.
3. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a perfect example of a low-investment business since it involves marketing other people’s products without taking the risk of owning any inventory. Affiliate marketers are paid a commission for items sold and any leads, referrals, and clicks to direct links. The main advantage of affiliate marketing is that it allows you to earn money without investing any resources or running a website. To become an affiliate marketer, you only need to join affiliate networks that link marketers with clients. You can find some tips for affiliate programs and find the best one, whether you are a beginner or a pro. . Here, you can put your marketing skills to good use by creating content and ads for your clients’ products. Why not become an amazon affiliate marketer.
4. Digital Guides
This business idea also requires you to make use of your skills and expertise. Rather than offering your services to individuals, which can be a little tedious, you can put all your knowledge into a course or a training guide that you can sell to others. By making this guide available digitally, you cut out printing and shipping costs. These guides can be anything from fitness routines, cookbooks, music tutorials, organizational guides, sewing manuals, or anything else you think people would pay to learn. The possibilities here are endless, so harness your talents and make some money from them.
5. PA or VA
Personal Assistant or Virtual Assistant sounds more like a job rather than a business. However, it is more of a business because you have to look for clients and market your service. You might also need to invest in setting up a small office, which can be from home or a commercial premise. Despite not sounding so glamorous, a PA or VA business can give you some handsome returns. The best thing is that it won’t cost you more than a few hundred dollars to start.
6. Social Media Consultancy
In this age and day, everyone is literally on a social networking platform, especially Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter or at least one of them. But then again, not everyone has the time to keep their page or profile up to speed with updates, responding to comments, twits, likes, and questions from other users. As a social media consultancy, some of your most valuable clients would-be celebrities, busy politicians, corporates, businesses, and busy individuals who’d like to maintain a credible presence and promote their brands on social media. This area has an unlimited expansion capacity, and it is even more interesting that you don’t need to spend much to get your business running. Plus, there’s a wide variety of social media management tools that you can use to simplify your day-to-day tasks.
7. Blogging/ Vlogging
You can also create a profitable business based on your skills or what you love doing most. Do you have expertise in cooking, fashion, travel, home décor, and such? There’s a whole lot of internet users who’d love to learn from your skills, knowledge, and expertise. You can create a blog or a vlog and monetize your passion. You just need to be strategic in your approach. You’ll only need a computer and perhaps a quality camera to capture your videos. You’ll then want to invest in web design, provide the content and market your business for advertising space once you acquire a significant number of followers.
8. Selling On-demand Items
On-demand items are great because you only produce what you know will sell, reducing the risk of having an inventory that is not moving. Customized items are super trendy as people are always looking to have something unique. Items that can be sold on-demand include clothing items such as T-shirts and hoodies, accessories such as hats, bags, and shoes, and everyday things like phone cases and posters. These items work as canvases, and all you need to do is print customized designs on them as per your consumers’ needs. Even better is if you create and own the rights to the content you are printing as you get the chance to showcase your original creations at no cost.
Starting a business can be a considerable risk, but the risk is greatly minimized with these business ideas. They require little financial investment and have the potential for high returns. Most of them can be done online without you having to leave your house. Don’t let your skills and expertise go to waste. They could be the perfect basis for your business. So if you’ve been itching to start your own business but didn’t know how to finance it, worry no more. Try out these low risk, low investment business ideas today.