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4 Small Business You Can Start on a Small Budget

Have you ever checked franchise listings and sat utterly stunned at the startup costs? Watched Shark Tank and can’t imagine the hundreds of thousands needed to make business happen? Or, maybe even approached a bank in hopes of raising capital but were met by a big, red denial?

Startups don’t have to cost a lot of money — in fact, many business ideas are realized with a couple hundred dollars and a strong work ethic. This post shares some of those inexpensive startup ideas.

Laying the Groundwork for a New Startup

Every great startup idea is backed by a business plan helping you align budgets and resources with sales and marketing goals. Failing to create a plan is like throwing money to the wind — you’ll invest but stagnate.

Explore these (then come back for the ideas):

  • Create a one-page business plan detailing your idea, target market, and competitors
  • Create an advertising & marketing plan including budget, platforms, and assets
  • Create a customer avatar template of who’s your ideal customer and where to find them

These three will provide telling data if your startup idea has legs as it reveals gaps and opportunities you could fill and begin attracting clients/customers.

Startup Ideas on a Small Budget: Try These

If you’re going to fail, then fail quick so you can start the next idea without wasting tons of time, money, and resources chasing a pipedream. This may feel counterintuitive as you want to succeed but you’ll learn more from failing than throwing money and time at something dead on arrival.

So, what business ideas could you explore on a small budget?

  1. Massage Therapy

An understanding of the human anatomy, strong hands, and certification (optional) can launch you in this billion-dollar industry. Your market is just about everyone! Stress is at an all-time high and many carry injuries from work/activities, this startup satisfies one’s needs to correct muscle pain. And, relax.

Startup costs are rock-bottom sourcing massage tables and supplies through Earthlite and local suppliers. Then, it’s a matter of rolling-out a word-of-mouth, print, and online marketing campaign.

Startup cost: $500 – $1000 or $5-7k with certification

  1. Lawn Maintenance

Most people want a great looking lawn. Some locations have HOAs requiring homeowners constant upkeep and maintenance. You can start this business with existing equipment if mowing and trimming are a normal routine around your home.

Startup costs are very cheap when starting lean via push mowers and gas weed eaters. Marketing is typically done door-to-door or through strategic business card placement. Then, personal referrals.

Startup cost: $100 – $200 (used, basic) or $2-3k (new, better)

  1. Gig Services

Take what you know from work, hobbies, and experience and package it as services. Viola! You now have a service-based business offering skills online set to your price and hours. There are thousands of businesses needing skilled labor. Millions of people seek tutoring, coaching, Web development, dog sitting, and various gig-based tasks.

Startup costs with online services are one of the lowest needing nothing more than a website and free time. A portfolio site is essential as it shares your skills/experience and provides contact methods.

Startup cost: $30 – $50 (domain, hosting, free theme) or ~$100 (domain, host, premium theme)

  1. Crafts/Flips

Take your creativity and apply it to a startup offering anything from hand-painted rocks to custom wire jewelry. There’s a market for just about everything creative if you put time and skill into it. Platforms like Etsy are an easy “in” for craft-based business.

Similarly, flipping items has parallels — finding unique items and selling them online. Or, buying supplies at thrift stores, creating something new, and selling the piece. The startup costs are mostly the craft supplies or flippable item and online listing fees.

Startup cost: $Variable (Supplies) or sometimes free!

What to Do After the Launch: Quick Tips for Startups

Ideas are worthless without action — they’re a money sink if you invest in startup resources but fail to put them to work. Here are a few quick tips to getting your new business into the market and making sales.

  • Social Media— Get on social media, build it with friends & family, and start attracting leads by sharing great content, exclusive deals, and participating in conversations. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter are easy wins with their groups, business pages, promotions, and tagging.
  • Print Materials— Get a package of basic business print materials including business cards, flyers, postcards, and brochures. You’ll want these on hand when people inquire about your business when meeting via networking/local events and business meetups.
  • Reviews — Push, hard, for great reviews from your initial customers so your online listings show high ratings. This is also effective in getting word-of-mouth referrals through real-world interactions. Respond to these reviews with positivity helping sculpt your reputation, too.

You’ve got the ideas and you’ve got the strategies… what’s stopping you from launching a startup?

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5 Ways to Give Your Small Business That Professional Look

If you want your small business to grow, you need to attract new customers. And you’re more likely to attract them if you give you business that professional look. So take a look at these five tips on how to do just that.

Most people say first impressions are the most important ones. In fact, studies show that first impressions are all that matters as people won’t get over them.

If you’re a small business owner worried about how other people view your business, you might not be sure where to start.

Do you need to wear a $3,000 suit? Do you need a professional website? Do you need a website at all?

There are plenty of ways to improve your professional look, but we’re going to take a look at five important ones today.

1. Get a Professional E-Mail

That Gmail or Yahoo account just isn’t going to cut it anymore.

“BiggestPackersFanEver79@yahoo.com” probably isn’t the ideal professional-looking contact info.

You want a professional e-mail account for when people are searching for your contact info or when they need to talk to you quickly.

If you’re already familiar with a particular e-mail layout, that company may also provide a business alternative. For example, Google also provides business e-mail accounts on top of their free, everyday Gmail accounts.

Add your last name to your e-mail account, too. “Cindy.Marion@businessname.com” is more professional-looking than “Cindy@businessname.com.” It makes it appear as though you have a large staff (even if you don’t) that requires the last name in the e-mail address.

2. Get a Professional Website

Most people are probably going to find you online. Therefore, you want the website they land on to appear professional.

Invest in a good web developer for a clean and professional look.

Not only that, it’s another good opportunity for you to continue branding yourself. For example, use “we” rather than “I” in the content on your website. That will give off the impression that you are a more professional company rather than a small operation.

3. Get on Social Media

Everyone these days is on social media and so should your business.

This means: get on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. (as long as the platform is intuitive to what your business is).

But also, blog your heart out.

Big and professional businesses are well known because their name is out there. One way you can be that too is to just spread the word. Blog as often as you can and post to social media daily.

You want the content to be relevant to your audience or customer, but make sure that you’re putting your business and your name out there constantly.

4. Get a Professional Photographer

If you have pictures on your website, social media, or anywhere else, make sure they are as professional as can be.

Stop taking your own blurry photos on your iPhone. Either learn some basics of photography and lighting yourself or hire a professional.

If you’re wondering how to look professional, a good photo of you, your staff, or your work environment is an easy step to take.

5. Complete the Branded Look

This is a little bit “bigger picture,” but have a solid and consistent brand for your small business.

This can be many things from how you dress to what your logo design looks like.

You want people to see the professional look of your business in every way that they interact with you.

For example, if you send promotional products, they should be branded right down to the packaging they’re shipped in.

Consider something as simple as a paystub maker. Your employees may be the only people seeing the paystubs but brand them with your company logo. Make them uniform and professional-looking and the appearance will only spread from there.

Growing Your Small Business With that Professional Look

Growing your small business takes a lot of effort. It can be time-consuming and draining, but if you have been wondering how to appear professional, these tips will help put you in the right direction.

Just remember that the professional look of your website, e-mail address, photos, and branding all play an important role.

If you want to keep growing your small business, check out the rest of our business blogs for more tips.

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Strategic planning for your small business success this 2018

As we start 2018, it’s high time you reflect on the year that’s been and start planning so you can launch right and with minimal constraints. What’s important is to take note what you have in mind and write it down so you can easily hold yourself and your team accountable.

Involve key people.  If you work solo, then there’s only you who’s accountable. If your business has a team, then you need to get the right people involved so that they can feel a sense of ownership over the outcome of your plans. Even though they don’t have the final say, just having their concerns heard is enough. The meeting should include functions of HR, finance, operations, marketing and sales represented.

Start planning. After knowing the people involved in the planning, you must make sure that your time with them is well structured and that any data or market research necessary as input is gathered and assessed by all parties present ahead of time. Next, determine your agenda for the following day.

Step 1: Reflection. Understanding where you are right now is key to knowing where you’re going. You must confront brutal facts. Invite the team to give input so you can create an atmosphere of truth. Brutal facts may include the following:

  • Financial performance year-to-date up to 5 years back if available.
  • Updated competitor analysis
  • Market share analysis
  • Sales analysis
  • Consumer trends
  • Marketing performance
  • Operational performance
  • People analysis

If all of your team members are prepared, having read the background analysis, you can start debating and creating insights. What are your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats? It’s SWOT time!

Step 2: Future planning. Now, this is the goal setting part of the plan and how far into the future you want is your choice. Setting around 1, 3 and 5 years is good as it will shape how you approach getting there.

Include revenue, profit, and market share in your goals. This could also be the time to refine or craft your vision for the type of business you want to be. Make your goals achievable by using S.M.A.R.T – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. This framework lets you set out some elements of your course of action.

Step 3: Getting there. With specific goals ready, it’s time to determine the actions needed to get there. Taking the S.M.A.R.T. goals as the starting point, each person in the team should outline their plans for the functional areas they are in. The following must be determined:

  • Sales forecast. By month or quarter.
  • Marketing spends and strategy. Activities to get to desired market share and positioning.
  • Operational budget. Required new investments.
  • New services. Service another market segment. A new type of product/service offer.
  • People planning. How many staff is necessary. Training required. Recruitment and retention plan.

The need for online presence

Here’s a hard truth. Many business owners still don’t use or benefit from the power of business websites.

If you still don’t have one or are using a very old website, then it’s time for an upgrade. Include website to your competitor and SWOT analysis, then consult a web development company and accomplish domain name registration right away. Registering your domain means reserving your online business address or trade name. It’s a crucial step towards a successful web presence.

In summary, business planning will take time and effort to pull off. However, it pays off big when the entire organization understands the goals and priorities including the role they need to play to achieve them.

A Million Lives

Travelling in all its glory is fun and exhilarating but sometimes you might want to find some information on where to go, what to see and how to go about it from someone other than the go-to websites, especially when it comes to travel hacking and the coolest, most useful ways to get the most out of your next adventure.

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