Start up capital?

[James Brassing]

Just wondering if anyone knows any business ideas which require little start up capital, as I'm currently still a student I don't have heaps of money.

 

[Red Wood]

Most service businesses you can get away with little to no start up as its mostly human capital that is required (which you can be/do/provide yourself)I started my business last year and was convinced It would require no more than £500... I was wrong, very wrong, and I have a bank balance to prove it!Good luck!

 

[garyk]

Yes if you can trade your time for money you can minimise costs but you will probably end up trading lots of time! When I started my first business in '93 I thought nah that won't be me. How wrong I was, 7 days a week for not much money as I recall.

 

[James Brassing]

Most service businesses you can get away with little to no start up as its mostly human capital that is required (which you can be/do/provide yourself)I started my business last year and was convinced It would require no more than £500... I was wrong, very wrong, and I have a bank balance to prove it!Good luck!

Yes if you can trade your time for money you can minimise costs but you will probably end up trading lots of time! When I started my first business in '93 I thought nah that won't be me. How wrong I was, 7 days a week for not much money as I recall.

Thank you for the responses, like I mentioned being a student I don't have heaps of time, however, considering what you've said I might use this this time to do some thorougher planning.

 

[ethical PR]

If you are not coming up for your finals no reason you couldn't devote a couple of evenings, weekends and holidays into your business.

This will enable you to save some start up funds and develop your business


Most universities have business incubaor centres and start Up funds you can apply for.

 

[businessapprent]

Buying and selling tends to be relatively cheap.

 

[simon field]

Buying and selling tends to be relatively cheap.

Are you trying to build up your post count by just replying to any old thing?

 

[Chris LC]

I had this very same problem when I was 19. I was working a part time job that "stole" 25 hours of my life each week (yes, I hated that job), in addition to completing a degree in Modern Languages with the Open University at the same time. I've had an immense passion for business for as long as I can remember, but during that stage of my life I had very little free time and money was a little bit tight, so couldn't really afford to invest much. Starting a business was still very much in my thoughts though and I went down the route of sourcing products from China and using them to repair damaged iPhones, which I re-sold for a good profit. However, the problem with a business that involves physical products, especially when you don't have a great deal of capital, is that it only take a few customer returns (some customers genuinely do complain or want to return without reason and you just have to accept that) to put you in the red. It can also be hard to identify a product that offers you a good margin when buying in such low quantities. That's why I would probably recommend you take a look at offering some sort of service online (I opted for website content writing while I was studying and made a nice sum each month), as it requires very little investment and the profit margin on such services is typically very high.

 

[Latebloomer]

Only two things come to my mind. Religion and gambling.

I don't think I will be a good preacher so I chose gambling.

Playing lottery syndicate now for two years and getting loss/win other days but certainly not losing much.

 

[Jet Virtual]

You could become an affiliate and earn some good cash.

We offer an affiliate scheme if your'e interested.

Another option is to whitelabel an existing company which you can brand as your own and build it up slowly.

We offer a whitelable service if your'e interested.

There you go 2 options on the table and I didn't even charge

 

[James Brassing]

You could become an affiliate and earn some good cash.

We offer an affiliate scheme if your'e interested.

Another option is to whitelabel an existing company which you can brand as your own and build it up slowly.

We offer a whitelable service if your'e interested.

There you go 2 options on the table and I didn't even charge

Thank you and how exactly would I earn cash as an affiliate, and affiliate to what exactly? Virtual Office?

 

[japancool]

Buying and selling tends to be relatively cheap.

Compared to what? Eating bananas?

What's "cheap" to you?

 

[japancool]

Only two things come to my mind. Religion and gambling.

I don't think I will be a good preacher so I chose gambling.

Playing lottery syndicate now for two years and getting loss/win other days but certainly not losing much.

There's always the second oldest profession.

 

[Talay]

You've got no money, no ideas but lots of time. The answer is simple.

You need to invest some of your time to generate lots of ideas, most of which will be rubbish, in order to try and find one idea which may work.

This business idea will require mostly your efforts as inputs (as effectively your time is free) and either be relatively profitable or scalable where you can substitute your labour for hired employees, leaving you a healthy margin on top.

 

[AshcoAccountants]

Being a student you may want to be a ghost blog writer. We have a client that writes and sources blogs (guest blogs) for clients. Some companies tend not to have time to do it themselves. Depending on what you are studying, you may start off specialising it that subject?

Only a thought and could help with your studies as well.

Good luck with what ever you decide to do.

 

[Moneyman]

Don't try to be clever and think up something new. just get onto some wholesale websites and have a browse and just see if anything grabs you that you can buy by the pallet and flog quickly.
Otherwise refurbishing mobiles. Everyone has plenty of dead or cracked ones sitting in their draw and cant be bothered to spend £50 to get a new screen and flog it for a couple of hundred. If you were prepared to pay cash for broken screen mobiles (people don't tend to knick phones with bust screens so less risk there)

 

[Talay]

I second Moneyman but to give you an idea of likely profits, hit places like ebay and work out (accurately) what similar items have sold for (and be specific to your area - not in Aberdeen !). Deduct your true costs for ebay (usually 10% to start), Paypal (around 4/5%), price of transport and pitch for car boot etc.

Spreadsheet the lot and add on an acceptable absolute and percentage margin (no point making just 200% if it costs 50p !)

Then you can analyse information quickly and make a bid on pallets or have the information to hand when visiting wholesalers or distressed outlets.

Another skill is sourcing where to buy things because the places you first find will have at least one and most likely a few more levels of people taking profits before it gets to you.

 

[Concept Vehicle Leasing]

Online trading business (ebay etc), food stalls, market pop-ups, etc.

 

[Green Onion]

You're a student, hire venues and organise party nights. I did that once at college and made around 400 quid. Think of a party that you would pay £10 a ticket for, then organise it. Fun business which could help you build up some capital.

 

[candrew]

First research about small business ideas which will cost you very low and give good benefit in return ! If you want to work in public then foodstalls, hotels or restaurants because this type of business are always on high and it will give good benefit in return ! Hope you like my idea ! Thank you !