In this startup business guide, we will cover the following 11 steps:

1. Figuring out if you are ready to be an entrepreneur before you start.
2. Deciding on a great small business idea
3. Testing your small business
4. Developing the ultimate business plan
5. Registering your small business
6. Setting up finances, accounting and tax
7. Create brand and identity for your business
8. Getting all of the business essentials ready
9. Finding funding for your startup business
10. Creating a sales and marketing strategy
11. Launching your small business

Now, we know that reading this ultra-long-guide to starting your small business may be the last thing you want to do, so we are providing you with cliff notes – a way to get started with no money, simply by reading the key points to the guide.

Starting a small business is not for everyone. Simply put, not everyone is an entrepreneur, or has the ambition to accomplish what entrepreneurs do every day.
If you are just getting into business because you think it will be easier than working for somebody – think again!

A typical entrepreneur will outwork and standard employee by far. As an entrepreneur, working on your own small business, you are to wear every hat, of every position – at least until you are profitable enough to hire and get help!

If you’re not ready to take that jump just yet – maybe it’s time to hold off.

But if you are, read on…

Sometimes you may get lucky and have an idea that is a killer, and right off the bat, you are making a ton of money! A unique idea, something that’s never been done before and you are the pioneer. But most likely, you are looking for an idea that you are comfortable with, that you have experience in, that you know how to run yourself. Maybe you can get rich off of it, or maybe it’s just something yo help you get by – whatever it is, the decision on the type of business idea you want to run, shouldn’t be decided on in a day or two.

As you decide on a small business idea, be it something brand new, or something already existing in the market space, testing your small business idea will help you in the long run.

Properly testing your idea will help you determine if something needs to change, if you can add-to, or adjust with the model to succeed, or perhaps call it quits.

To properly test your idea, you can speak to your family, friends, test the market, conduct surveys and collect feedback.

Does anyone have interest in what you are selling/offering?

Is anyone else doing this? Are they successful? Why or why not?

It is always better to find out early on if there is a problem, or it’s smooth sailing ahead.

If you have taken the time to pick a good business idea, did a bit of research and testing and figured out you are good to move ahead, the next stage is developing a proper business plan.

Without a business plan, many small business owners will fail. As a startup small business going into this with no money, it is always a good idea to have a business plan created.

Your business plan will force you to do a bit more work, but in the end, all worth it as it will prepare your business for anything and everything that may come your way.

Develop your business plan using the Business Plan Builder Tool.

Now that your business plan is ready, the next step is to make it all legit. Register your business and become the business.
There are many different business types, so definitely take some time to determine the best option for you – financially and professionally speaking.

As a sole trader, a partnership, or a limited company; or as a community interest company, or a not-for-profit org – the choice is yours but always good to know the ins and outs of each option.

The finances are crucial to a start up business. If you have the funds to start up with, or if you have no funds, setting up a proper accounting process to determine your expenses, revenues as well as any taxes is a must have. Many small businesses lose a lot of money early on due to a failed process that has a lot to do with the financial and tax setup.

While it may not seem like a crucial step, but getting your business ready for launch has a lot to do with your logo, your brand identity, your website and more. This plays an important role in getting you visible!

Before you can properly launch your small business, there are a few key essentials no business can do without. Depending on your type of situation/business model, this may vary but generally speaking, your internet, phone line, office space, stationary, equipment/tools…etc are all considered essentials that you need to properly startup. While it may be hard with little to no money to cover all of your expenses, but it does lead into the next step – step 9!

Following these 11 steps to start a business with no money may be a little bit hard – things simply cost!

So, the best way around it is to find funding for your startup business.

Luckily, the UK government provides a ton of startup funding programmes in the form of government grants, government loans, tax breaks and credits to help start you off.
Find funding using the Funding Database.

Once you’ve gotten all set, the next step is to promote your business, or at the very least to organize how this will take place once you launch.

You most likely need a sales or a marketing strategy in place to handle new prospects/clients/customers; what will it be like?

Once you know how to sell the end user – how do you get them? Your website, social media, paid ads..etc This will all be part of the startup and planning process, not to mention, getting funding help to pay for some of the marketing costs. Get help with your marketing plan.

The final step is to launch your small business.

And as a entrepreneur, you may soon realize that all of that planning and effort to do everything 100% correctly may go out the window, since as an entrepreneur, nothing is guaranteed, especially with your first startup – your plan, your projections, your goals – it all may change! BUT, with a proper business plan, you are prepared.

If the cliff notes were not enough to help you with the small business startup process with no money, refer to the below, more in-depth guide.

Full Guide: 11 steps to start a business with no money

 

Step #1:
Figuring out if you are ready to be an entrepreneur before you start.

Is entrepreneurship right for you?

When you want to start a business, you have to first make sure that entrepreneurship is right for you.

It may not be!

There are a few things that sets entrepreneurs apart from those that simply don’t have it.

This includes ambition, time dedication and in most cases startup money, or at the very least, ability to take a risk.

If you are getting into “business”, to be your own boss and to not have to work as hard, or have somebody to report to – it’s exciting, yes. BUT, this is far from the reality, as your boss soon becomes your own bills that you have to cover each month. You can always get away with telling your boss, sorry, let me make it up; but as a business owner, your rent, your expenses, your staff..they can’t wait.

The time dedication that is required by a business owner is often scary on it’s own – at least within the early on stages.

As a business owner, you will be working as the marketing person, the accountant, the financial expert, the sales person, inventory manager, the janitor and more! That’s many hat’s you will be airing, and the take home pay, if any, may be less than minimum wage at certain times.

That is typically the “startup life” phase. While it’s not always the case and many businesses are successful right from the start, trying to start a business with no money initially, does have a few challenges.

If you have the time to invest, you may also need a bit of money to simplify the process. While it’s not always the case, the more money you have to invest, the better – even if just a few hundred pounds. Again, with no money, a startup process is possible, but does get down to the very fine detail of what you can do and what you can’t do on your own.

The final point, taking risk!

If you have the ability to take on some risk, you may have what it takes.

Entrepreneurs generally can take on more risk than a normal person – you have to be the judge of that based on your own situation.

Do you have a job? Savings? Family/kids…etc

All of these play an important role in determining your risk tolerance.

Not to say that entrepreneurs are risk takers but it does help with those split moment decisions.

Step #2:

Deciding on a great small business idea

 

As a small business takes time and dedication, you want to enjoy working on your business as it will further motivate you to do big things.

Generally speaking, when people get into “business”, they often do it based on their employment experience. Doing so ensures that you know what to do, you’ve seen it work before and you can skip over a lot of the needed research steps to know if the business can be profitable or not.

That’s not to say that you cannot do a business outside of your comfort zone, but the greater changes of success are if you do what you know, love and understand.

A small business idea that you decide to get into, should give you a few things:

1. It should work in the market space that you are in.

2. There should be interest in the product/services you have

3. You would need to make money from it

Once you’ve figured the idea out, no matter what it is, and no matter how successful you think it will be, testing your small business idea is crucial.

Step #3:

Testing your small business

 

That’s the entrepreneurial spirit right there – BUT, not always the case, so before you take the wrong turn, testing your small business before you dedicate more time and effort, or money, is the key.

There are multiple ways to test your small business for success before you launch. While it won’t give you 100% accurate results, you can collect important information about your market, audience, your product/services, pricing and more from this little activity.

If you have the startup money, you can spend a bit to do a real test – and this will speed things up for this stage.

An example:
Create a website with your products and services and launch it in paid advertising platforms such as Google Ads, or social media ads such as on Facebook or Instagram.

With a good website, a nicely laid out product/service line, and spending £500 to £1,000 on ads will determine what you are doing good and bad.

At the very least, it will tell you what sells and what doesn’t. What people click on/search for, and what they don’t. When starting up – this is valuable information.

While this works if you have the capital to do the ads and expect no return back; if you have no money to start your small business, the testing may be different, or may run longer.

Alternative ways to test your small business may include activities such as:

Step #4:

Developing the ultimate business planHaving a business plan is one of the most critical steps to starting a small business with no money.

While you can run a business without a business plan, to ensure your success, you should create one!

While a business plan may take time, may require research and is simply a headache to do, it is one of the most crucial steps to ensuring your success.

Step #5:
Registering your small business

Registering your business in the UK is one of the ways to turn your small business idea into a legitimate, ready to trade business.

There are many different types of business registrations that you can take advantage of, each with a unique set of pros and cons for each. It is always best to do additional research based on your business model, your financial situation, tax plan and more – to determine the best type of registration to apply for.

You may go opt to register as a sole trader, form a partnership or to register as a limited liability company. Alternatively you can also opt go with a community interest company, or charity or a not for profit type of business.

Whatever the case many be in your situation (that best applies to your needs), it is important to know and educate yourself on the various account filings and responsibilities that come with each.

Step #6:</6>
Setting up finances, accounting and tax

Much like the business registration steps, turning your business legitimate by registering, you will also have to plan for your finances as well.

While it may be easy to say “but I have no money to startup”, the financial, accounting and tax process is a bit of a complicated process.

From the simple steps such as creating a bank account, working with an accountant to the more complicated account filings and tracking all of the money coming in and going out, the process can get a bit complicated if not done right.

The UK government provides a lot of funding support for small business owners in the form of tax breaks and tax credits, so keeping your financial in order and organized can benefit you when it’s time to apply for these tax funding options.

Step #7:
Create brand and identity for your business

As you approach the launch of your small business and you’ve completed some of the important steps to this point, the next step is to create your business identity.

Step #8:

Getting all of the business essentials readyAs you get into your small business, you will have the essentials that you need to make it all work.

These are the tools, the equipment, supplies and other things that help you with your business.

While the essentials range from business to business, this is the one where you have to have some money to spend.

As you prepare to run your business, some of the costs you will have to consider will include:

· The needed equipment
· Business licensing and registration
· Office Space
· Inventory and supplies
· Marketing costs
· Website (hosting, registration)
· Office furniture and supplies
· Utilities
· Payroll
· Professional Consultants
· Insurance
· Taxes
· Travel Costs
· Shipping costs

Step #9:

Finding funding for your startup businessIf you plan to start a business with no money, many of the essential steps such as the above “startup costs” may be an issue.

When you run a business, everything costs money. From your phone bill, to internet, to the pen and paper you use to write notes down…and without any money, you will have a tough time.

While it is possible to run your small business with no money during the startup phase, finding funding for your startup business is a possibility.

Having extra funding can boost your startup process.

As a startup, you may be able to find funds from your family, friends, your bank, or you can find a private investor or access government funding!

One of the top sources for funding for a small business would the British government.

The government has various funding programmes that come in the form of government grants, government loans, tax breaks/credits..etc

These funds are there to help you with a variety of things from purchasing the needed tools, equipment, paying for marketing, covering your wages and hiring costs and much more.

The Funding Database here offers you access to the full listings of each and every programme offered by he UK government.

Take a minute now, before you move on with your small business startup and find available funding for your business.

Step #10:
Creating a sales and marketing strategy

When you have everything you need set up for your business, it’s time to get ready to launch.

Before you launch, you should have a clear path to promoting your business, in order to get the attention of the customers you are targeting.

While the marketing is part of your business plan, now is the time to make it all work and prepare it all for launch.

What type of promotions will you do?

Step #11:
Launching your small business

The final step of the 11 step process to start a business with no money, the launch of your small business.

Hopefully by now you are confident with your small business idea, have built a solid business plan, found some funding and are ready for success.

When you launch your business – you may expect everything to go as planned, however in rare cases does it go exactly as planned.

Entrepreneurship and running your own business is pretty much unpredictable, and as you launch, you may see quite a lot change from the original plan.

This is normal – so don’t get discouraged.

Follow your business plan, your marketing and sales strategy and adjust.

In most cases, business plans and the process of operating a small business, especially with no money, does change as you launch.