Does it seem like everyone you know is starting a business or side hustle? That’s probably because it’s true. Having multiple streams of income helps you gain financial independence from your job, meaning, if you absolutely hate your job, your boss or the people you work with, you have other sources of income to supplement your primary source of income when you up and quit one day.

Businesses and side hustles also give you the mental freedom to explore areas outside of your primary career expertise. I recently read an article about a chemist who owns a small jewelry business that acts as a side hustle to her full-time.

She loves chemistry and makes good money but it lacks creative freedom. In her business, she explores and creates new and fun designs and feels creatively engaged and excited by what she creates. She still loves chemistry but recognizes that the jewelry business fulfills different needs and is something she would do whether she made money doing it or not.

From financial benefits to mental freedom, many people are jumping on the band wagon of starting a business or side hustle. In this article, we examine practical ways of starting your business or side hustle with little to no money.

Figure Out Your Why

The first step of any (and I mean ANY) business is establishing your why. If you haven’t seen Simon Sinek’s TedTalk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action, I’d highly recommend you click that link right now.

Understanding why you want to start a business will help inform what you want that business to look like and how you execute your vision. I worked with a freelancer business coach to work through my why and help understand why I wanted to start a business, what wasn’t I getting in my full-time job that I wanted to intentionally create in my business etc.

Having a coach walk you through self-exploration exercises, ask powerful questions and get you thinking about the foundation of your business is key! If you want to explore business coaching options, let’s chat! Check out my services page or shoot me a quick email at Nadia@beyonddiscoverycoaching.com

What Can You Give

The second step of creating a business or side hustle is figuring out what you can actually do or give. What skills and abilities or passions and interests do you already have that you could easily do if no one was paying you money to do it.

For some, it’s doing what you do in your career. For me personally, I am a career coach at a university in my full-time and I run a career coaching business as my side hustle. I genuinely like coaching and connecting with clients.

Creating my side hustle business was a way to work with clients outside university level students. In my private business, I get to work with folks from all over the world, at every career level and loads of different industries. That is uniquely different than the type of folks I wok with at the university, so for me, it feels like a completely different experience even knowing it’s using the same skill set.

Figuring out what you have to offer doesn’t need to be this big journey to self-realization, although if that’s what it looks like for you-cool! You can simply just start with your interests and things you can already do and go from there!

Start Up Expenses On The Cheap

First things first, I am not a lawyer or a tax professional and I’d highly advocate you ALWAYS seek professional advice in these areas to get custom advice for your specific situation. Particularly if you have a full-time job, your company may have strict rules on the ways you can make money outside the company.

With that, in most instances, you do not need to invest a ton of money into filling an LLC, designing a website, paying for marketing services etc. to get your business or side hustle off the ground.

The first side hustler I started following when I was looking into my own business creation was a Facebook Marketplace furniture flipper. She often got pieces for free, flipped them in her garage with the tools she had and sold on a free platform and was paid in cash.

When you don’t have capital (money or physical products) you have to get creative at sourcing. My furniture flipping friend would drive around her local area on trash days and pick up free pieces on the curb or spend very little money at second hand stores picking up pieces she knew she could flip and sell for a decent profit quickly and easily.

Work With What You Got or Can Get Cheaply

For a website, consider making a LinkedIn or a Facebook page to sell your products or services. Even as a professional career coach, my website was one of the last things I invested in when I started my business.

I firstly started my business on LinkedIn by changing my profile type to a service provider and started establishing my brand visibility and creditability by posting every day, writing article content and connecting/networking with professionals looking for jobs. This was 100% free.

Social media is an easy one but essential in helping you establish your brand and create community in a free way. There are definitely ways to spend money on social media advertising and marketing (paid ads, content scheduling apps etc.) but I recommend starting with the basic free versions and work your way into the paid areas.

The Power Of Friends, Family And Networking

This can’t be oversold when starting a business or side hustle with little to no money. The first 10 coaching clients I had in my side hustle business where people I already knew or were secondary connections through my network.

My biggest piece of advice is for you to tell as many people as possible about what you are doing and why you are doing it.

You can ask your network for referrals, and you should, but more importantly, when people think of a particular need or pain point, they should think of you first when seeking solutions. My first step in getting clients was to tell people I had started my own business and how they could support me. It went something like this:

Hi! I hope the New Year is treating you well. I wanted you to be the first to know my big news- I’ve started a career coaching business! I’m wanting to work with more folks beyond the university level and really get stuck in with professionals in their career journey. From career exploration, happiness and clarity to resume, LinkedIn and interview prep help- I can do it! For now, I’d welcome you to please like my pages on social media and consider recommending me to anyone you come across that expresses interest in wanting to better their career. Thank you!

Giving your connections specific ways they can help you without spending a dime is a great way to build support and momentum around what you are trying to build and will eventually lead to paid avenues. If you show up powerfully and consistently for those who already know you, the referrals will come. People will WANT to help you build your business.

Other Methods To Consider

These methods are for folks that have a more advanced understanding of business and are open to a higher degree of risk. Small business loans will get you more capital but as the name suggests, they are loans- and whether you are profitable in your business or not, you’re going to need to pay these loans back. Banks and online lenders are happy to offer small business loans and supply extra cash flow or investment funds. Be mindful of interest rates and repayment agreements and know EXACTLY how your loan is going to work before accepting offers.

Small business grants and local funding opportunities are scarce but they are out there. Typically, you need to be established in your business (LLC, tax id, etc.) to qualify for these types of funding opportunities. You should have an established business idea and plan since you’ll be competing against other small businesses.

Angel investors… they come into play when it’s time to scale your business beyond you, yourself, and folks who’ve bought into the fold. In most cases, these types of investors are contributing their own personal funds. You need to have very clear boundaries and role expectations of your investors vs. you as the founder of the business. How much do you want their influence over the direction of the business vs. them simply supplying capital.

Final Words…

Take your time in building your business or side hustle and HAVE FUN doing it. We already work enough for the sake of working… don’t carry this “have to” mindset into your business. You “get to” do this so enjoy what you are creating and if you aren’t- change it!

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Meet The Writer!

Hi! My name is Nadia Ibrahim-Taney and I help people design happy and fulfilling careers through authentic career coaching. My expertise includes career exploration guidance, resume writing, interview prep and LinkedIn profile optimization. My pronouns are She/ Her/ Hers and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I focus on how diverse identities impact and influence folks holistically and professionally. Please connect with me on LinkedIn or at Nadia@beyonddiscoverycoaching.com

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How To Start A Business or Side Hustle With No Money