Ali Hasan
I know why you’re here. You want to start your own business but you don’t have enough money. Well that’s a small problem that can be solved if you read until the end. There are millions of potential entrepreneurs that could have saved humanity with their amazing idea if they had the funds to start a business. But what if there is an effective and efficient way by which you can start your own business without needing funding? Wouldn’t you want to know that?
Well don’t worry as I am here to help you. So let’s begin and straight dive into it. There are millions of people who want to begin their entrepreneurial journey but they lack not only money but also skills, competence, knowledge and experience.
If you don’t have the adequate resources, then you might think that “If I had the money, I would have built the next Apple, Microsoft, Amazon or Google” but that’s not how it works. If you don’t believe us, then please read a blog about how Quibi failed despite a funding of $1.75 billion (Rs 12,000 crores).
There are many startups that failed miserably despite receiving millions in funding. So please take this concept out of your mind that you could build the next trillion dollar company simply by having a ton of money. But there’s another route by which you can actually build the next big thing without needing external funding. The question is – How?
Well the answer is pretty easy but boring. There is a sequence that you need to follow in order to achieve it. It may take longer than what you expect but I am pretty sure you’ll be able to do it if you follow what I am about to tell you.
When a young person who’s in his late teens or early to mid 20s wants to start a business, he often wants to become an entrepreneur like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. This happens because he is caught on the entrepreneurial bandwagon of being the founder of a big company, having billions of net worth and having the luxury lifestyle that comes along with it. But in reality you don’t need a trillion dollar company in order to have a successful business. There are many companies that are quite successful even though they are relatively small.
You don’t have to buy the idea of working 80-100 hours a week and being an entrepreneur who’s building the future. If you can, then it’s great. If not, then no problem. You can be a simple entrepreneur who has a small and simple business generating enough profits to sustain the business as well as to afford a luxurious lifestyle. After all, you don’t need $10 billion to enjoy life. You can do it in $10 million as well.
Let’s say that you come from a middle class family and want to make it big then this would be the exact sequence which can make you a successful entrepreneur and a billionaire in the future. The sequence is as follows:-
1. Get a Job – What the F***? Ok wait. Please don’t get mad at me. If you don’t have money to start a startup then you have to earn it. As simple as that. There are millions of people who want to start a business but there are very few people who actually want to work hard enough in order to achieve it.
If you don’t have money, then firstly get a job in order to support yourself. It’s because you need money for your basic needs such as rent, food, clothing, utility bills and various other expenses.
2. Get Skilled – Now when you have a job which will help you to meet your ends meet, you can now start up-skilling yourself and get really good at one thing. The number 1 mistake that people do when they go back to their home after their jobs is that they entertain instead of educating themselves. If you found a job, then don’t rest there. Keep on educating and improving yourself. Netflix won’t provide you with stuff which will have a profound impact on you.
Educate yourself about business and entrepreneurship as much as possible via books, videos, articles, blogs, podcasts, courses, documentaries, magazines, newsletters, journals, newspapers and anything that can help you to get better.
Work on your soft and core skills. Become a better negotiator. Improve your communication skills. Learn how to code, write a copy, design a logo or improve the Google ranking of a website. You don’t need to learn everything at the same time, learn one skill at a time and become an expert in it.
A job will help you to cover your basic needs and expenses but when you get really good at a certain skill, then you become highly irreplaceable. The more irreplaceable you become, the higher you earn and you’ll be able to charge more from your clients.
You can get skilled from Google and YouTube as you can learn literally anything from them that too for free. Then you can do courses (Free or Paid) on anything which will further improve your skills. Courses can be done from Coursera, Udemy, Udacity, Skillshare, The Great Courses Plus, etc.
3. Work as a Freelancer – Once you learn the basics of a certain skill, then you can make a profile on Fiverr or Upwork where you can get some clients to work for. You won’t find clients very easily on these platforms as there are many freelancers just like you but if you keep persisting then you can certainly find them.
4. Promote Yourself – Even if you’re lucky enough to find clients and land some pretty good gigs, you shouldn’t stop there. You should go above and beyond your call of duty and create a website for a healthy online presence. You can do this by using various sites such as Wix or Squarespace if you don’t know how to code. If you know how to code, then you can do it yourself.
You should also have a strong social media presence and use platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok or any other viable platform to engage with your desired audience and to build a strong brand. You can create content on a consistent basis to build a passive flow of income as well as have a solid reputation to back yourself up.
5. Go Full Time – The next thing that you can do is to go full time in being a freelancer. Until now you were working part time as you were also doing a job but it’s time to quit a job and go full time with your freelancing career and move ahead in your life.
You might ask how I will know whether when it’s the right time to go full time. Well it’s very simple. As soon as you start generating the same amount of money as you do from your day job, you can quit your job and go full time with your skilled career. Imagine if you’re generating the same amount of money by working part time, then how much money can you earn by working full time.
6. Start Investing – Now you should be very careful as many people have reached this place and they became lazy. Their laziness cost them negatively as they lost almost everything. When you reach a semi-successful level, then the last thing you want is to go backwards.
Don’t spend money recklessly. Instead save it and invest it into yourself to increase your value. You can also invest it into various options so that you get a positive return on your investment. This money will help you in bad times.
7. Start your own Business – Finally you can start your own business as you’re skilled, valuable, knowledgeable, competent and experienced enough to know the ins and outs of running a business. You’re familiar with various aspects of running a business such as handling clients, working with people, meeting deadlines and working hard enough to make it successful.
Now you don’t need external funding as you have the money and you also know about how to start a business sustainably. Once you reach this level and show growth and profitability, investors will easily lend you the money in case you were in a need that too at a reasonable equity stake.
Funding isn’t a Problem anymore
What I just told you can be used by anyone to start completely from scratch and become a business owner without needing external funding. The only problem that you’ll ever have in this approach is that it takes a lot of time and effort.
You’ll have days where you might have zero motivation to push yourself. You might question yourself whether you have it or not to make it as a successful entrepreneur. You might consider quitting because your life will feel like hell but always remember one thing – “If you’re going through hell, keep going”.
I know it’s really boring to first get a job, then get skilled to work as a freelancer, working from client to client just to earn some money but it’s a process where you’ll get better with each passing day and if you’re consistent with your efforts and keep on changing yourself as per the demands of the marketplace, then one day you’ll super successful with lots of experience and wisdom.
There are many entrepreneurs who worked really hard just to get started and you can be just like them. Once you have developed a strong work ethic, it remains with you for your entire life. Remember that you have to get it right just once and then your life will be sorted forever (well if you don’t do something stupid). Once you reach this level, you’ll have 99 problems but money isn’t one.
You can adjust this approach accordingly. If you already have a job, then simply get skilled. If you’re skilled, then simply double down on your efforts to get more clients. If you have ample clients, then start investing into areas which can give you the best returns. Finally start a business if you’re skilled, have enough contacts and connections as well as investments to keep you afloat.
We would hope that you become the next big thing in your respective industry.
