Are you interested to know how to start a business with no money? There are many reasons why people might be hesitant about starting their own business, even when it’s a long-held personal dream to do so.

Many would-be business owners assume there must be an off-putting amount of red tape involved. They may not feel they understand the legal requirements well enough or want additional help with company formation, documents, and admin processes.

Another common reason for holding back on starting a new business is thinking you cannot afford it. Not having enough startup cash to fund an expensive new venture is certainly a valid concern. However, unless you need to invest heavily in specific tools or training, it’s perfectly possible to launch and succeed in various types of business on a shoestring budget.

If you consider starting a business with no money in the UK, you should dedicate your time to thorough preparation. The way you go about planning your small business can determine whether you succeed or not. In this blog, we’ll outline a few ideas on how to start a UK business with no money. Also learn How to Register a Company in the UK with our easy-to-follow guide.

What types of UK business can you start with a tiny budget?

So, how to start a business in the UK with no money? Naturally, the business landscape will always be more challenging to navigate early on if you don’t have much of a cash buffer available. However, these models do have the potential to start generating money fairly quickly, with relatively little heavy investment needed beforehand.

In fact, many people initially choose to start companies based on the following models as a side earner while working elsewhere, be it full-time or part-time. If you’ve got that option, then the risks of giving it a go are even lower during the early stages. Even if you plan to work from home, we recommend getting a business address for the self-employed. This will increase your credibility and protect your privacy.

Working from home businesses

When you wonder how to start a business with less money, the best decision is to create it from home. Eliminating the steep cost of physical office rental is one of the best ways to reduce overheads and lower risk when entering into a new market or venture.

There are downsides to working from home, of course. Clients often prefer to contact companies via a more professional-looking business address, and you may have reservations about mail handling or privacy concerns.

Using a cheap and flexible virtual office solution is a great way to address all of these issues in one go and lets you avoid getting tied into any costly long-term arrangements with landlords.

Typical examples of low-cost business startups that you can run from your own home include:

Home (or mobile) beauty/wellbeing services; Online or in-person tutoring

When you’re already well-trained and have practical experience in some area and want to start booking clients, you can run various personal health or clinical services on a home visit basis. The most popular examples are cutting hair, giving manicures or massages, and helping the client develop or practice skills (such as yoga, fitness training, or learning a foreign language/musical instrument).

In either case, the buyer can come to you, or you can go to them. The latter is often cheaper than needing to set up a professional workspace in your own house, but this will depend to an extent on your location and how far you’re likely to have to travel.

eCommerce and trade-based businesses (eBay selling); Making and crafting (Esty store)

When you want to start a business at home with no money, the smart move is to make profitable use of things you already have (or can pick up cheaply/free). Build your inventory slowly, buying in extra items only when you’ve already started making sales, and be careful to avoid the common pitfalls of investing in too much stock that you might struggle to move on quickly.

If you’re making goods for sale, do plenty of research into what people are buying — focus on product categories that don’t necessarily need to be sold at high prices to make your time investment worthwhile.

Outdoor work — gardening, dog walking, car valeting, etc.

You can further reduce the cost of setting up a home business by focusing on roles performed outside your home, meaning you won’t need any sort of physical office space.

Again, some of these outdoor business models are relatively specialised, requiring solid experience and/or qualifications, as well as a practical toolkit. Others are much easier to get into and allow you to start out with almost nothing, provided you have no problem travelling to the job location.

Cleaning or DIY services

Cleaning businesses are a pretty popular startup model because they initially require just a few basic supplies, which don’t tend to be overly expensive. While there is a certain level of expertise involved in knowing how to do a great job, people typically hire cleaning services as a time-saver rather than because it demands any particularly unique skill set.

DIY is a little more experience-dependent, and you need to do a good number of jobs for friends and family first to build up something of a portfolio. Either way, offering private residential services to people in your local area is usually a much easier way to get things going early on than pitching to commercial enterprises.

Start a business idea with no money with the help of Hoxton Mix!

Starting a business with no money: 6 ways to help it work

As we’ve seen, you can launch numerous types of businesses without needing heavy outside investment, private capital reserves, or a big startup loan to get going.

Any new business venture will bring unique challenges, risks, and requirements when starting out with no money, but there’s always a degree of risk involved in entering a new market, regardless of your financial background on day one. The key to finding startup success on a small budget is to minimise those early risks. If you are intimidated to open your own business with no money, the most important thing is to plan everything out.

Finding smart workarounds to help you strictly limit any initial outgoings is one of the best ways to do this. Below, we present our top six tips for protecting yourself while keeping your business startup as cheap as possible from the outset:

1. Start small

Don’t be in a rush to take on more clients or inventory than you can handle, or that would require significant investment in your company infrastructure. Make use of existing connections — working for friends, family, or former colleagues and clients in the first instance is a great way to find your feet.

Always be sure to make full use of any skills, training, items, or equipment already at your disposal before investing in any new ones. Work remotely (ideally from home), renting affordable meeting rooms or coworking spaces hourly when necessary.

2. Make use of existing free or cheap digital services

In our Internet age, there are more opportunities than ever to start a business with no money or credit. Many online platforms offer you a way to run and advertise a web store or client service just like it was with a physical shop front, but with very few of the associated expenses. Other cost-effective digital products can help you manage your emails, finance, and admin processes. Cheap virtual office sites, virtual business addresses, and mail forwarding services can make running a business from home effortless.

3. Test your business model as a side income at first

If you're already working part-time or full-time, we know you're likely to be busy. Nevertheless, as tricky and tiring as it may seem, this is an ideal chance to determine whether or not your idea works. You're probably too put off the idea of launching your own startup as you're working elsewhere. But doing so, you are actually missing a perfect opportunity to road-test the project without gambling on it as the sole source of income.

4. Have a clear brief in mind

This involves some significant research and insight into your chosen market. You need to know what exactly you're offering, who your customers will be, why people will want your service, and how it differs from (or ideally improves on) what's already out there. Also, be clear with yourself on why you want to do this, how your personality will fit with what you're planning, and what your capacity will be. In particular, think about how you might respond if and when things do or don't start to grow.

5. Always look for ways to reduce overheads

Can you supply, make or do something yourself, rather than having to outsource it? In the early stages, you’ll want to be doing this as much as possible to lower business expenses. If you can't provide something under your own steam, look for ways to turn any fixed costs into more variable ones. Explore bid-based goods and services online, rather than buying off the shelf, and tap into digital freelance markets to have more control over the cost of outsourced products, services, and suppliers.

6. Put yourself out there

Customers these days expect more than ever before, which is true for both multinational conglomerates and independent startups. In particular, today's buyers like to feel closer to the businesses and services they use. This is why we've seen such a rapid rise in social media and 'storytelling' marketing models at all levels of business in recent years.

The plethora of free web tools and digital platforms at your disposal means you're just as well-placed to tell your own business story, as the giant corporations are. Be sure to make good use of them: put a friendly and engaging human face on your startup business, and build your own unique branding, tone, and contacts network through smart use of social media and blogging.

4 Important Tips on How to Start a Business with No Money or Credit

If you still wonder how to start your own business with no money, we have prepared some additional tips that will help.

Make sure to consult people with experience

When you don’t have experience, you may think you have a great idea related to your business, when in reality, it is quite the opposite. Before you get serious, you should consider consulting a person who will be straightforward with you. The best way to go about this situation is to talk to a startup advisor or someone who has experience in this sphere. Remember that people may not always want to help you for free, which is why it’s best to either pay a professional or become a part of the community.

Attend events and stay updated

One of the essential things in business is to make connections. If you want to rely on a low-cost business model, you have to prioritise attending free workshops, events, and talks related to your business. You may meet potential business partners and even investors during such events, so it’s something you shouldn’t dismiss. Luckily, finding relevant events is easy with social media and newsletters.

Focus on promotion

You need consistency if you want to start a business from scratch with no money. These days, you can market your business for free, but you have to be determined. Many people fail to get their name out there because they give up too soon. Running ads is expensive, but you can increase your visibility in such ways:

Consider starting a blog where you provide people with valuable information.
Optimise all of your blog articles for search engines, which means finding and using relevant keywords in texts.
You should choose several social media accounts and provide value there consistently.
You can contact a local radio or TV station if you have a great story related to your business.

Develop your negotiation skills

Just like with consistency, being able to negotiate is one of the most valuable business skills. It is a good idea to read business books about negotiation and, of course, practice it in your communications with others. Even when you have a small business, you may have to discuss prices with suppliers or negotiate a payment for your services with a customer. Developing this skill is a long-run strategy.

How Hoxton Mix Can Help You in Starting Business With Less Money

If you have decided to start a business with no money or experience, you will likely need all the help you can get. At Hoxton Mix, we offer numerous services that can help business owners save money. With our help, you can easily get a virtual address as a sole trader, so you can begin your business from home without paying expensive rent. Also, our team can quickly set up your new Ltd company without you having to deal with Companies House forms.

Contact our specialist, and we will help you start your business affordably!

FAQ

How can I start my own business with no money in the UK?

To start a business with no money, you should come up with an idea, create a detailed plan, and start promoting your business online. It is good advice to start slow and have a side hustle during the early stages.

What type of businesses can I start without money?

These days, there are plenty of businesses that you can start with no funds: Freelance Translation, Writing, Illustration, etc., Outdoor Work or Manual Labour, Digital Marketing, Cleaning Services, and More.

What is the easiest business to start with no money?

It all depends on your skills and preferences. Overall, the easiest businesses require you to have only an Internet connection and a computer. This can include social media management, blogging, editing, etc.