It takes a fair amount of effort to start a work-from-home business, but it doesn’t have to cost a great deal of money.
In fact, as we covered in our series in March, it’s possible to launch your own business with no upfront investment at all.
Traditional businesses have a great deal of fixed expenses.
These include things like paying rent for facilities, purchasing and storing inventory, and paying employees.
If you work for yourself from home, you can avoid these expenses.
Your home is your office and you can run a business with only yourself as staff.
The only start-up costs are web-hosting, a computer, and internet access.
Here are a few ways you can start a business working from home without paying anything at all upfront.
Offer Services
Instead of selling products, which require storage and shipping, you can offer a service.
The deliverable is the work you do for the client or a file you send them of the finished work.
Services that you could provide include web design, content creation, data entry, programming, customer service, marketing services such as SEO, social media management, and so on.
Can you offer any of these services?
If so, you’re nearly ready to launch your business today.
Sell Digital Products
If you’re planning to start a business selling products, one free option is to offer digital products like eBooks or online courses.
The product is a file that the buyer downloads from you.
It doesn’t need to cost anything to make these files except your time and energy.
In recent years, information products have grown in popularity and people are willing to pay a great deal for products with high value.
What gives the product value is the expertise that you offer through it.
The information in the product helps your buyer solve the problems they’re facing.
Sell Products Through Drop Shipping
Drop shipping involves selling products where the supplier fulfils the orders and ships the products.
Sites like eBay, Amazon, and Shopify take care of the stock and shipping.
You just advertise, take orders, and build relationships with your customers.
Although drop shipping allows you to run an online business without the hassles of maintaining stock and shipping items, there are still some disadvantages.
Your supplier needs to be reliable since the availability of products and speed of shipping are essential.
It can be somewhat risky since you’re giving up control of some parts of your business to someone else.
If something goes wrong your reputation is on the line, so make sure you choose your supplier wisely.
Sell Products through Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is an online business model where you sign up to sell the products of a merchant for a commission.
Your role is to sell their products through your content such as blogs or videos.
This is a viable option for you if you understand how to drive traffic and build an audience through content.
If you’re looking for a way to get started, try one of the above options to build your business.
Once you have a steady stream of income, invest in growing and expanding your business.
All it takes is the willingness to do the work and a desire to succeed.
If you need to generate some immediate cash and be your own boss, check out our 5-part series How To Start A Business With Little or No Money.
