Do you need some quick inspiration on what business you can start – even today? This article features 5 of many business ideas that will cost you less than $200 to start, but may require you to invest more of your time.
I love working online and be location independent. So, most, if not all the following 5 low-cost startup ideas don’t require an official storefront, employees, or expensive business insurance to get started.
“Just” a willingness to work and a customer-focused attitude.
In fact, the first 4 ideas may require no investment but your time, and number 5 will cost less than $200 and your time.
Note: By the way, you can get 80+ ideas just by subscribing to our newsletter!
1. Ebay Retailer
No, retailing on Ebay is not dead.
All you need to get into the Ebay retailer business is perhaps some old junk you don’t want lying around the house, and a PayPal “Premiere” or “Business” account. That’s it! Of course, that old junk will only get you so far, but there are tons of expansion possibilities if you or someone you know likes to make homemade crafts or products that people want, or you have access to discounted wholesale products of value.
Drop-shipping is also a great business model with Ebay, though competition is also fierce. This how-to article is an oldie but a goodie: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/71504
2. Electronics Repair
Electronics repair businesses are cropping up all over the place. Laptops, home PC’s, tablets, smartphones, smart televisions, BluRay players, video game consoles – the possibilities are only limited to the number of gadgets out there.
If given the option, most people won’t pay hundreds more to have a blue screen of death fixed on their Windows PC by the Geek Squad at Best Buy. Nor do they want to shell out $200 to have their out-of-warranty iPhone fixed when you can swoop in and do it for $100.
You can also accept throw-away items from your customers for parts, and for repairing and selling refurbished electronics to people with irrepairable devices who don’t want to pay full price for new ones.
3. Coach
The possibilities for becoming a coach of any kind are only limited by your life experience.
Here are a few that are very popular and relatively easy to start for $0:
- Start a life coaching service if you are someone who is great at identifying problem areas in people’s lives and encouraging them to push harder to achieve their goals.
- Offer a personalized sports coaching service for kids, teens, and professionals if you have excelled in sports or understand how to impart technical knowledge to athletes. Golf, soccer, hockey, baseball – are all very profitable niche areas and loaded with potential clients seeking help to be the best they can be.
- Diet and lifestyle coaching is on the rise. Obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancers of all kinds are global epidemics that millions are facing due to poor diet, poor quality processed food, alcohol/drugs, and sedentary lifestyles. Start a YouTube channel offering free advice and throw up a website with a questionnaire for potential clients to fill out and get in touch with you through.
4. Outsourcing
This is yet another industry that has limitless possibilities. In the digital era, popular outsourcing businesses have included web design, copywriting, data entry, project management and many more.
Creating an online outsourcing company is as simple as setting up a website and frequenting online communities that cater to people with your services. You can optionally promote your business using paid advertising methods like Google Adwords.
Offline outsourcing holds many more possibilities, as you can offer any service that a company would want to contract an outside company or individual to do, rather than incurring the expense of having a full or part-time employee on staff.
5. Financial Planning
There are a thousand and one companies out there selling financial planning services. Everyone has dreams of retiring early – or simply being able to retire period – and they need someone to create the plan for them. There is a training/grooming period where you’ll need to learn the ropes from an experienced agent and most, if not all states and provinces will require that you study and get licenced before you can start selling investments and insurance to people on your own. Once licensed, you’ll be an independent contractor in charge of your own marketing and sales.
Most financial service companies require only that you pay for the government license to sell financial products, which is usually less than $100 but can sometimes be as much as $200. The training itself is free and most study materials are provided through online portals. You will have to get the clients yourself, but financial services companies provide endless support and encouragement. Also, once you get a few happy clients, most of your business will come from referrals, requiring less pavement-pounding from you.
Takeaway
There you go – 5 business ideas you can turn into reality TODAY. There are obviously more ideas you can get inspiration from, but let’s get started with those 5.
Remember, in order to avoid your startup from becoming yet another statistic (“90 percent of startups fail within the first year”) be sure you step up in your idea execution. Ideas are nothing without proper execution; it is execution that makes companies like Facebook and Uber successful, even though the ideas are not that original.
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