People often want to establish a business for financial stability and freedom from long work hours. In today’s digital age, businesses have been made available for various industries, with resources on learning needed skills readily available on the internet. At the same time, many entrepreneurs have testified that they’ve been able to start a small business online without spending thousands of dollars to establish their business.
Here are five online businesses that you can start with little to no money
1) Selling on Amazon
Amazon is one of the leading online marketplaces globally. They have saturated almost every industry, and their e-commerce site is a favorite of many consumers. By selling on Amazon, you have the possibility of a global reach by taking advantage of their audience. You have to pay their fees, though.
Here’s how to sell on Amazon with little to no cost:
- Start by selling your owned items that are no longer used at home, or purchase items from thrift shops. Start with opening a basic selling account as you’re getting to know the platform and researching for products that are highly sellable.
- Once you’ve learned the basics, made some money and found sellable goods, you can start buying items from clearance stores and sell them at a higher price.
- One your sales are more stable, consider the Amazon’s Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) program, wherein you have inventory shipped to Amazon’s warehouse, and they take care of completing the order to your buyers. A service like fbabee.com can even take care of forwarding your items to Amazon.
2) Arts and Crafts on Etsy
If you like creating arts and crafts, personalized gifts, or even designing printable calendars, cards, and the like, then Etsy is a place for you. Etsy is a go-to for lovers of these things, and this can be a good avenue if you’re creating similar goods as a hobby. As this is also a third-party platform, you’ll have to pay fees as a seller. Here’s how to sell on Etsy:
- Go to etsy.com and click on ‘Sell on Etsy’, on the next page click on ‘Open your Etsy shop’
- Follow the prompts to set up your account
- Create your shop, decide on a name and start listing your products.
3) Dropshipping
Dropshipping is when you create an online business to sell goods without holding the inventory. Instead, you find a supplier who can ship the items to your buyers when you receive an order. An essential factor in this business is to make sure that your supplier is reliable, the quality of their goods are satisfactory, and you can communicate with them all the time for updates.
You can also read a review on Amazon’s dropshipping service. By using this business model, you won’t have to spend money on stocks that you might not sell, and even a storage facility.
Here are some of the ways to have a dropshipping business:
- Research the items you want to sell and find a reliable supplier for them. Determine the price they’re willing to give you for it and calculate your profit estimates. Establish handling and shipping times too.
- You list your items on an online platform of your choice. You can use third-party sites like Amazon or eBay, or create your own online store.
- When a buyer purchases the item, forward the order over to your drop shipper, and your drop shipper sends the item over to your buyer.
4) Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is when an affiliate partners with a business and earns commission by referring his or her audience to the products or services offered by the business. This is one of the most popular ways to make money online because there’s also no need to store inventory. Some of the top affiliate websites are ShareASale Affiliates, eBay Partners, Clickbank, Rakuten Marketing Affiliates, CJ Affiliate Publisher’s Program, and Amazon Associates.
Here’s how to start an affiliate marketing business:
- Pick a profitable niche. For example, you’re interested in fitness and you see that it has a potential for profit, so you choose that niche.
- Look for partners who have products in that niche. You can utilize popular affiliate sites like CJ Affiliate, Clickbank.com, ShareASale Affiliates, and more.
- Offer their products on your e-commerce site or blog using the unique link given to you. Every time someone clicks on your link and completes a purchase, you earn by commission.
5) Blogging
Blogging is an avenue for you to be able to write, take photos or create videos, etc. about your expertise or interests with opportunities to earn. While you can start a blog without having to pay anything at all, this can get tricky to monetize. There are platforms where you can create your own website and secure your hosting with less than $200, which can give you paid opportunities.
There are several ways to make money by blogging, two of which are:
- Affiliate marketing – As mentioned above, your blog can be the platform where you can put your affiliate links. You can earn passively and with less effort especially when your blog’s audience is what your partners are looking for.
- Blog ads and pay per click (PPC) ads – These methods are when your blog earns when your reader clicks on the ad you have on your blog. Some popular ad networks are Google AdSense, Infolinks, Media.net, and Bidvertiser.
Once you have a blog, it’s crucial that you consistently post valuable content and engage your readers so that they also continue to look on you as a resource for information they might need or want.
You Can Research for More Information
There are definitely more businesses that you can start with no money. Regardless of what kind of business you choose, remember that money isn’t the only capital, and there are other effective investments for your business. Just like every entrepreneur, take time to research and learn skills because while a business can give you financial stability and freedom, it will need a lot of work, especially in the beginning.
