How to Become an Entrepreneur When You Don’t Have Any Money or Experience?

We all want to start our own businesses and be an entrepreneur. However, there are several factors preventing us from realizing our dream. Who doesn’t want to be their own boss? Who wouldn’t want to be wealthy? So, what are these factors that are preventing us from owning a business and realizing our dreams?

I will respond to this question right away.

The most significant barrier to starting your own business is money. That’s correct. A whopping 99 percent of people with good business ideas do not become entrepreneurs because they lack the capital to invest in their dream.

The second most significant stumbling block is lack of experience. Many of us have no prior business experience. Understandably, we may have had a lemonade stand at a school fair, but that does not qualify as business experience or even business acumen.

However, these two factors should not deter you from starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur. This is due to the fact that there are numerous ways and means to become an online entrepreneur with no money or experience.

At the same time, something else is preventing us from starting a business. Fear is the third factor.

Fears of Business Failure

Fear is the third most common reason why people with seemingly excellent business ideas do not start their own businesses. They are concerned about losing money if the company fails.

This isn’t entirely unfounded. Depending on who you believe, anywhere between 60 and 90 percent of new businesses fail within the first two to three years of operation.

There are several reasons for this failure, once again.

However, with proper planning, there is no need to be concerned about a company failing. You also don’t have to be concerned about losing large sums of money that you invest in the business, either one-time or over time.

That is possible if you become an online entrepreneur with no money and no prior business experience. How should this be done? Continue reading because, in this article, I will explain in detail how to become an online entrepreneur with no money and no experience.

I strongly advise you to read this article all the way to the end because I will also discuss how to avoid failures and financial losses in any online business you may wish to start.

How to Become an Entrepreneur When You Don’t Have Any Money or Experience

So, let’s look at ways and means to become an online entrepreneur without having any money or a business. I’ll show you in simple steps how to become an online entrepreneur without any money or experience.

Let’s get started.

1. Good Business Idea

One of the reasons most startups fail is that they are carbon copies of other successful businesses. It’s important to remember that we can’t simply replicate someone else’s business model or business plan. The reason is straightforward.

A well-established and successful business would have begun several years ago. The market situation at the time would have been very different from what it is today. This means that the successful business evolved over time to where it is now.

There are no magic formulas for success. Simply replicating a successful entrepreneur’s business model is not the best way to become an entrepreneur.

To become an online entrepreneur, you must have a good business idea. There is no shortage of such concepts. You can easily find one online and use it to start your own business.

2. Investigate the Market

You may have a fantastic business idea at this point. However, the million-dollar question here is: “Is there a market for my business?”

Everyone will tell you that every business requires a market. It needs to gain a significant market share to ensure that the company survives and then thrives in its early years. It makes no sense to open a business unless this segment of the market is unavailable.

While a well-established business will have a significant, large market share, there are no guarantees that you will be able to obtain any of it. This is because people may not want to switch to your company and abandon the established one.

As a result, here’s something to think about: there are two kinds of markets. One is an over-catered or over-serviced market, which means there are too many businesses in the same market. The other type of market is under-catered, which means there are very few companies or businesses in the same industry.

Both have valid reasons. If there are many players, it could indicate that there is a high demand, and your business may be able to survive as well. On the other hand, if there are too few similar businesses, you may have a better chance of success. However, these are merely speculative considerations.

The best way to determine whether or not your company’s products or services have a market is to conduct your own research. A survey of suppliers, distributors, and even customers may be beneficial.

3. Discover Your Talents

What are the things you can invest in the business if you don’t have any money or experience? Of course, you must make an investment to become an online entrepreneur. As a result, the best thing to invest in an online business is your own abilities.

This entails determining the most valuable skills that you could use or “sell” for the company. If you’re a software developer, for example, you have two choices. You can work as a freelance software developer or start an online software development business.

For those who are unaware, even freelancing is an online business because, under US labor laws, freelancers are classified as “independent contractors.”

Some of us may be able to easily identify our skills. Others may find it difficult. The ease comes from having worked on one specific skill for a long time and being able to do something quickly. The problem arises when you’ve been doing several things well for a long time.

If you’re having trouble identifying your skills, try this simple formula. Determine your strongest suit. Check to see if there is a market demand for that skill and what you can offer people by using that skill.

In the absence of financial investments and business acumen due to a lack of experience, the only way to start a business is to use your skills. The catch is that your skills must be up to date for this purpose. You can always improve your skills by taking excellent online courses.

4. Develop a Business Plan

You can get a good idea of what kind of business or enterprise is possible after identifying your skills. Combine this with the market survey you conducted to determine whether the business can find customers. These two steps will lead you to put together a rough business plan.

If you want to be an online entrepreneur with no money and no experience, you must have a business plan. “Failing to plan is planning to fail,” as the saying goes. This axiom is absolutely correct. Without a proper business plan, no business has ever succeeded in this world.

So, exactly what is a business plan? It is a simple document written on paper or on a computer that contains every detail about the business. A business plan should ideally include several components.

These elements are the nature of the business, which means the products or services you wish to offer are based solely on your strongest skills, the type of customers or types of customers you wish to attract, the suggested price of your products and services, and a realistic estimate of how many customers you can get. These calculations will provide you with an estimate of how much money you can earn at the end of a week, month, and year.

A good business plan, however, does not stop there. It also takes into account the overall cost of running the business, such as Internet expenses, software if necessary, and payroll, if any.

Actually, in the business plan, you should be able to get a complete roadmap of how you will operate the online business and project the profits you will make at the end of a specific period.

There are also professional business plan writers available. You could talk to them about your plans. They can also write an excellent business plan for you. Such business plan writers, however, charge a high fee.

5. Product or Services?

You have two choices as an online entrepreneur. One offers products, while the other provides services. This is because selling products as an online entrepreneur is very different from selling services.

If you intend to sell products, you will need an online marketplace. This, again, is dependent on the type of products you offer. If these are customer-facing items, you can set up a marketplace on Etsy or Shopify, among other platforms. You can also sell through Facebook Marketplace, which is the simplest method.

That’s because Etsy allows you to sell only unique and handcrafted items, whereas Shopify allows you to sell almost anything as long as it’s legal. They do, however, charge a fee to open an online marketplace, whereas Facebook Marketplace is free to use indefinitely.

If you want to offer services, you could work as a freelancer by creating a great profile on sites like Upwork.com, FlexJobs.com, Fiverr.com, Toptal.com, or Freelancer.com, among others.

On all of these websites, you can open a free account and create a fantastic profile, with the exception of FlexJobs.com, which will charge you money when you are paid for services. FlexJobs.com charges a monthly, quarterly, or yearly fee that is not deducted from your earnings.

6. Type of Customers

There are two kinds of customers you can look for in general. The first is Business-to-Business (B2B), and the second is Business-to-Consumer (B2C). These words are self-explanatory, but I’ll explain the distinction between the two briefly.

A B2B enterprise is one in which you sell products or services to businesses. It can include items such as machinery, raw materials, stationery, and anything else that businesses require and use on a daily basis.

In such cases, you will need a separate website to promote your products online. A B2C business sells directly to consumers, which can be accomplished through a marketplace, as mentioned earlier in this article.

However, if you only offer services, freelancing is the best option because it does not require any significant investment. You can also choose a website for $9.99 per year or more, depending on the type of domain name and hosting that you select.

7. Consider Amazon and eBay

If you want to become an online entrepreneur and sell products or even a few services to customers, I recommend that you look into selling on Amazon and eBay. As you may know, Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, while eBay is well-known for selling both old and new products that are difficult to find elsewhere.

Anyone can become an Amazon seller. There are no fees associated with this registration. However, you will be charged a small fee if someone purchases the product from Amazon. This fee is reasonable when we consider that your work will be seen by millions of people every day around the world. This increases the likelihood of acquiring customers for your products.

If you want to sell used or antique items, eBay is a great place to start. eBay allows you to sell used car parts and antique furniture, among other things. To sell on eBay, you must first create a free account. However, one benefit of eBay is that certain types of goods can be sold for free. They do, however, take a small commission from the sale.

Whether it’s Amazon or eBay, you can only get your money after the return window for the item has passed. You are paid once a week. You can receive payment via direct bank transfers, PayPal, or other payment systems.

8. Business Blog

In general, every good business has a business blog. This is due to market research indicating that consumers of all types check blogs and trust content written by bloggers. However, the same content from a business is regarded as advertising.

Starting a business blog allows you to advertise and persuade people to buy your products or services. You can also provide affiliate marketing links that lead people to your company’s website or online store.

Blogging allows you to describe the benefits and drawbacks of your own products and services while remaining anonymous. This drives more traffic to your blog as well as your business website or online store.

9. Tying Up with Providers

You can also become an online entrepreneur without any money or experience by partnering with service providers. You can, for example, become an online travel agent by providing ticketing and reservations. This means you aren’t actually handling ticketing and reservations. Instead, you’re simply driving traffic to your website.

When these people visit your website and express an interest in an airline ticket, a hotel reservation, or another service, you can simply request that the main travel agency make the bookings on your behalf. You are compensated for your services in finding customers.

This method of locating customers for a third party is also applicable to network marketing and affiliate marketing, among other things. Furthermore, partnering with providers is free of charge. It also does not necessitate many skills because the work is done for you. The work you’re doing to get a customer is enough to earn you a commission.

10. YouTube Channel

For those who are unaware, YouTube is now a major source of income for those interested in becoming online entrepreneurs. You can post reviews of various companies products and services. The brand owners pay for these reviews, which are usually positive and serve as a form of indirect advertising.

Another option is to work as an affiliate marketer, promoting other people’s products. Affiliate marketing entails only posting links to a specific product or service on your website, blog, YouTube channel, or social media page. The business owner pays you a commission whenever someone clicks on one of these links and makes a purchase.

Amazon Associates, for example, is the world’s largest affiliate marketing program. In fact, Amazon’s associate network or affiliates account for 43 percent of total sales. They promote these products through YouTube video reviews, independent blogs, reviews, and social media posts.

You can also start a YouTube channel to become a vlogger. Once you have a certain number of subscribers on your channel, you can sign up for Google AdSense and start earning money. Subscribing to Google AdSense allows Google to display advertisements on YouTube videos. You are paid for each video shown by Google and for those that viewers watch completely without skipping.

11. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is another business you could consider if you don’t have much money or experience. It entails the creation of a website and the promotion of products for manufacturers and suppliers.

When a customer places an order and pays on your website, the payment for the goods is automatically sent to the supplier along with the details such as the mailing address. There is software available that will deduct your commissions before the money is sent to the actual seller. The product will be shipped directly to the customer by the seller, who is usually a manufacturer or wholesaler.

In fact, dropshipping has grown into a full-fledged business in the United States. Many dropshippers sell their products on marketplaces such as Facebook Marketplace and Shopify, to name a few. You, too, can read a comprehensive dropshipping article and become an online entrepreneur with little money and no experience. It’s simple and straightforward, and almost anyone can get started if they’re willing to put in some extra effort.

12. Social Media Presence

Finally, we have a social media presence. If you want to start an online business with no money and no experience, the best thing you can do is learn everything you can about social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and, to a lesser extent, LinkedIn.

This is because social media can be used as both a marketplace and a venue to advertise your company’s services and sell products. If we look closely, we can see that even the largest businesses in the United States and around the world have a strong social media presence. This is due to the fact that it allows them to reach millions of customers in a matter of seconds.

You, too, can make money online by using social media. It is the most cost-effective way to start a business or advertise your goods and services. Over a three-month period, social media has been shown to help businesses increase their lead rate by at least 110 percent.

Things to Avoid When Starting an Online Business

Here’s something you should avoid if you want to be an online entrepreneur but don’t have any money or experience. That way, you can start a business that has a good chance of succeeding.

When you first start out, never try to cater to a large market. Make no exaggerated claims about your products or services. Reduce your prices to avoid engaging in a price war.
Avoid avoiding questions from customers and leads. Never refuse free trials.

To summarise

These tips should help you become an online entrepreneur even if you don’t have any money or experience. In fact, millions of people are successfully running online businesses that they started with almost no money and no prior experience in anything other than their own abilities. Starting your own business has no bounds. You can start your own business with any idea as long as you know there will be enough buyers.