How do I start a start-up with no money?

There are hundreds of people out there who believe they have a million dollar idea. While this may or may not be truth, here’s the problem: Whatever idea you might have you’re going to need MONEY.

So how do you get things going if you have no cash? There are several options for raising funding if you’re starting from zero. For example, you could try the following.

Go to your friends and family.  

The easiest way is to simply ask your friends and family to help you out. You have nothing to lose by asking the people in your life if they have money to invest. All they can really do is say no.

Go to start up incubators and accelerators.

These are basically companies who are looking to develop start-ups which have potential. They want to help you grow your business and can increase your chances of attracting venture capital firms and investors. Start-up accelerators are a little different to incubators. They help to accelerate the growth of companies that already exist, and can also to attract investors.

Find angel investors.

Angel investors are basically people who are looking to give money away. These are investors who are searching for wild and crazy ideas and are not concerned if the business is actually viable. Or even if it has a real chance of succeeding. These investors are more than willing to help people who have no money. Most big cities have Angel Investor groups that you can pitch your idea to, so investigate this.

Use a crowdfunding platform.

The other thing you can do is use one of the many crowdfunding platforms that are available. There are many companies who have raised millions of dollars on these platforms, and depending on what your product or service is you could also do this. The two biggest crowdfunding platforms are Kickstarter and Go Fund Me.

Write a killer business plan.

A business plan is the strategy and step by step plan of what you’re going to do to make your business successful. It will influence the day to day running of your business and how you do things. The secondary purpose of the business plan is persuade people to invest in your start-up. A grand slam business plan can help you secure millions and also greatly increase your chances of success.

Visit the bank.

Another way to get funding for your start-up is to simply visit the bank. This is where a good business plan will help you. Set up an appointment with the loan officer and explain your business idea, how much money you’re going to need and what it will be used for. There are also institutions out there who fund new businesses and these can help you. Another option is to take out a personal loan or line of credit.

Just remember that this can be dangerous. If your start-up idea fails then you need to have a way to pay the money back.