Start Your Business: How Much Money Do You Need?

Are you full of ideas but empty pockets? Our advice to start your business without money.

To Start your business without money, take care of your business plan!

It is the basics of entrepreneurial ambition. The business plan is the roadmap and the compass of the entrepreneur who wants to create his business, a fortiori without contribution. Its drafting must be the fruit of a work of reflection and maturation of your project. This document is the major part of your financing application files because it is your argument for banks and potential business angels.

The business plan must:

• summarize the identity and purpose of the company you are creating, its manufacturing-creation process;
• present a market study;
• detail your development strategy, and of course, your financial goals and needs.

The better your business plan, the more chances you have for getting a loan or raising funds.

Choose the right legal status to start your business without money

Do you want to undertake financing requests but you lack the contribution to create your business? No problem. Under French law, and except for SA (Société Anonyme), all forms of the company allow you to start your business without share capital.

Depending on your initial situation, certain statutes will, however, be more suitable than others for your project:

• if you are on your own, you can opt for the simplified micro-enterprise regime, that of the sole proprietorship or the EURL (sole proprietorship with limited liability);
• if you are launching with several or intend to join shortly, you can create a SARL (limited liability company), a SAS (simplified joint-stock company / simplified one-person joint-stock company).

Obtain public aid and subsidies to Start your business without personal contribution

Even with a limited professional network and a modest economic situation, it is possible to find sources of financing to set up a business and thus fill your lack of contribution.
You can apply for public aid such as the “honor loan” from organizations such as chambers of commerce and industry. These zero-interest loans ranging from 2,000 to 90,000 Dollars are granted after deliberation by a jury of professionals.

Job seekers can also benefit from assistance in the form of capital (Arce, assistance with taking over or setting up a business) or the maintenance of their unemployment benefit in parallel with the launch of their new activity. (they Are, Help to return to employment).
Many other public aids exist.

The online aide-entreprises.fr database lists all current systems. Its search engine makes it possible to find those adapted to its own needs (creation, innovation, investments in equipment…), to its sector of activity and its geographical location.

Use love Money and Crowdfunding

How to start your business without money? You can ask your loved ones to invest in the creation of your company by financing part of their equity. This call for personal and family funding is nicknamed Love Money, “the money of love”.

In France, taxpayers who invest in SMEs will benefit in 2018 from an income tax credit at the exceptional rate of 25% of the amount of their investment (against 18% last year), capped at $ 50,000 for a single and 100,000 Dollar, and provided they immobilize their money for at least five years.

If you do not want to involve those around you in your business creation project, you can also collect funds from anonymous people through crowdfunding, or “ crowdfunding “, a device that is increasingly attracting people. emulated. Crowdfunding can take various forms: you can call on donations, borrowing, or equity financing.

How to Start A Business with No Money?

Starting your business without money or personal contribution is not advised: everything could stop at the first blow or the first unforeseen expense.

However, starting a business with no money has two great advantages:

• on the one hand, the financial risk is reduced to nothing,
• on the other hand, if successful, the rate of return on investment will automatically be better.

Good news, some activities allow you to start your business with a very low intake.

There are also tips for financing your start-up by other means than a personal contribution or debt.

Here are some tips.

Start a Business without money: the activities concerned.

Some activities require less money to be launched, that is to say, they have lower start-up needs than others, it is especially :

• online shops,
• personal service activities (see our article Creating a personal service activity),
• intermediary activities: door-to-door salesperson, or independent sales agent,
• craft activities requiring little equipment, such as a painter or “man all hands”,
• activities carried out at customers’ homes (esthetician or hairdresser at home for example),
• certain services if the equipment is already owned ( photographer for example),
• intellectual consultancy or training activities,
• liberal activities carried out at home (home office): reflexologist, sophrologist, naturopath, magnetizer, fortune-teller, or even

But in all cases, the creation of the company will generate costs: it will be necessary to take out insurance, buy supplies, acquire the minimum equipment, make business cards, buy a domain name … Start Your Business without money is therefore almost impossible. Without a minimum investment, the activity risks being invisible.

How Much Money Do You Need To Start A Business

Have the launch funded by its customers. There are ways to start a business without personal input and without getting into debt.

It is about pre-selling its products to build up a start-up cash flow. The objective is to take a maximum of firm orders which will be satisfied later while asking for a deposit from customers. This amounts to creating a surplus in working capital.

This also applies to certain services made to order.

Have the launch funded by the general public.

It is an increasingly common solution: launch a crowdfunding campaign to finance your project. This solution consists of presenting your project on an internet platform to encourage the general public to make donations, with or without compensation.

Sell ​​products or services at zero cost.

The idea is to invest time rather than money, to offer products whose production cost is close to zero, here some ideas to start your business or start your business without money:

• digital products (digital book for example),
• intellectual services (online or telephone advice, on-site services),
• artistic services, works of art, creative or artisanal items (for example in interior decoration: origami, cardboard furniture, etc.). This type of product can be offered free of charge on specialized websites such as Etsy.

Showcase recovered objects.

Here, the goal is to recover for free, to “find” objects, clothes, or other materials to give them back usefulness and value:

• recovery, sorting and sale of used clothing,
• recovery and restoration of old furniture, vintage baths for example,
• purchase of articles in a garage sale to resell them in the flea market.

These activities can be carried out free of charge on the internet, through sites such as LeBonCoin or eBay.

In all cases, the objective is of course to work from home.

How to Start Your Business without Money: internet mirage.

Creating an online store or blog type activity on the internet allows you to work from home and save the cost of a real store: no rent or local costs.

However, it would be wrong to think that no investment is necessary for an activity on the web. Indeed, without advertising or SEO effort, profitability may well never be there.

Conclusion.

Start your business without money is therefore particularly tricky. However, as we have seen, there are tricks, such as having the customers finance the start-up. But in all cases, you will have to convince your “funders”..

Originally published at Entrepreneur News and Startup Guide.