If you are planning on opening your own business, there are a lot of steps you need to complete long before you can get to the first client. It is usually the little things you never thought about that end up costing you a lot of money. If you cannot afford to spend a fortune to set up the essentials and open for business, you should know that there a lot of free opportunities for the small business owner.
Instructions
1. Choose a business that requires little to no initial investment. If you have no capital, choose a business that offers a service (such as resume writing or babysitting) rather than a product, unless you can get the product in consignment and pay only after it has sold.
2. Get a website. No business today should be without a website. If you cannot afford to pay a designer to have a top-of-the-line, Flash site established, you can still get a site up and running on your own by registering your own domain name and design it using a free template, all for just pennies a month. Many sites also offer their own templates if you register with them, so look into that as well.
3. Make your website interesting. If you are not a writer and cannot afford to pay for a professional copy writer just now, you can search free content websites for articles available for reprint. While these articles are not exclusive, it is still a good way to pump up content until you can afford to replace them for something unique.
4. Sign up for EFax, an online company that offers you the chance to receive an unlimited number of faxes a year (see Resources below). While you won't be able to send faxes, you will still be able to give your fax number away to potential customers. The service is free and has few limitations.
5. Get business cards. There is no easier way to advertise your business for little to no money that to pass around business cards to potential customers. Several online companies offer great deals to first-time customers, or you can talk to a local printer and ask for a discount.
Tags: cannot afford, business cards, business that, potential customers, that offers, your business