We are living in an era where entrepreneurship is admired. Over the past decade, there have been several success stories of entrepreneurs that gained wealth, financial freedom and their dream lifestyle after taking the chance to pursue their business ventures. The most notable story is that of Mark Zuckerberg, who became the world’s youngest billionaire and subsequently had a movie made about his meteoric rise as an entrepreneur. Other captivating stories include that of Alibaba’s Jack Ma, YouTube mogul Pewdiepie and many more. What’s more interesting is that people are starting to achieve entrepreneurial success with minimal resources and capital.
Take a page out of Nicole Sisson’s ‘The Suitcase Entrepreneur’ or Tim Ferriss’ “4 hour work week” and you will find the models that they used to not only achieve their financial success, but their freedom of time as well.
Here are some approaches you can use to get your startup running with little capital or resources.
Establish a virtual office.
30 years ago you needed to build a business that had a physical presence and staff. Each office would require startup capital to lease the office, setup employees’ workspaces with office chairs, computers and printers. Office suppliers for stationery and office supplies such as ink cartridges were also needed.
Nowadays, businesses can operate virtually by communicating and managing business processes with a laptop and smartphone. There are teams of workers that can be accessed remotely through sites such as Upwork and Freelancer. Collaborations can be done virtually by using Google Docs and meetings can occur in the virtual space by using messenger tools such as Skype or Facetime.
Learn marketing systems that will allow your business to grow.
The key to building a successful business is having a pipeline full of potential customers. It’s essential that your business’s marketing model encourages repeat sales, loyalty and advocacy. Businesses that incorporate database marketing tend to yield higher profits and have lower expenses.
It’s also important that your business identifies the marketing communication channels where you can reach your audience. This might require your business to build a presence on social media, email, blogs or print media publications.
Get access to funding.
Entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk said in one of his videos that it is probably the easiest time in history to secure funding for an entrepreneurial project. There are several options for entrepreneurs to secure funding. These may include:
Angel investors
These are investors that typically inject up to $2 million in a startup. The funding may come from anyone that has extra cash around, such as family, friends or acquaintances. The advantage of partnering with an angel investor is that you will be able to receive the funds that you need while maintaining a majority share in your venture.
Venture capitalists
Venture capitalist are similar to angel investors, however they are more professional and typically invest sums of money in excess of $5 million.
They typically demand much higher equity stakes because of the amount of risk that they take with the venture.
Government grants
There may be different types of government funding available for your startup.
Private equity firms
Crowdfunding
This is a new way to receive funding. People pledge funds towards your venture in order to see it come to life. There are several success stories such as the ones published on Business Insider. The people who pledge their funds usually get an inside look into the creative process or they will receive a copy of the project deliverable that has been developed.
Now is the most exciting time to start a business. You literally just need to have the idea and know the market that you want to target. The barriers to entry have been eroded and you can implement your business idea with little capital and willpower. What are you waiting for? Get started today!
