the startups.com platform about startups.comCheck out the new Startups.com - A Comprehensive Startup University
Education
Planning
Mentors
Funding
Customers
Assistants
Clarity
Categories
Business
Sales & Marketing
Funding
Product & Design
Technology
Skills & Management
Industries
Other
Business
Career Advice
Branding
Financial Consulting
Customer Engagement
Strategy
Sectors
Getting Started
Human Resources
Business Development
Legal
Other
Sales & Marketing
Social Media Marketing
Search Engine Optimization
Public Relations
Branding
Publishing
Inbound Marketing
Email Marketing
Copywriting
Growth Strategy
Search Engine Marketing
Sales & Lead Generation
Advertising
Other
Funding
Crowdfunding
Kickstarter
Venture Capital
Finance
Bootstrapping
Nonprofit
Other
Product & Design
Identity
User Experience
Lean Startup
Product Management
Metrics & Analytics
Other
Technology
WordPress
Software Development
Mobile
Ruby
CRM
Innovation
Cloud
Other
Skills & Management
Productivity
Entrepreneurship
Public Speaking
Leadership
Coaching
Other
Industries
SaaS
E-commerce
Education
Real Estate
Restaurant & Retail
Marketplaces
Nonprofit
Other
Dashboard
Browse Search
Answers
Calls
Inbox
Sign Up Log In

Loading...

Share Answer

Menu
Small Business: Is it possible to start a business with no money and no experience? How?
EF
EF
Etienne Fiset, Engineer turned Business Strategist answered:

Absolutely, now more than never!

If you take aside the psychological factors (motivation, strong desire, etc.), business success in general is dependent on 2 key variables : money and time (*not* experience).

You cannot start a business with no money and no time.
But if you have either of the two, you can make it happen.

As per how, with all the dogmatism of brevity I would say:

The easiest is to create a service that you can learn and deliver yourself (zero cost, only requires time to learn the required skill - could be writing content, teaching a language, coding apps, walking the dog, etc). Check out craigslist for about a thousand more ideas.

Even for a product, you can ask your first customers to pay for it in advance (to cover development costs) so you get the funds to pay tech peoples to create it.

Either way, there are 3 skills you must master if you want to have success :
- get good at asking questions to find where people's problem are (the seed of any business is in resolving a problem, so you got to stop talking and listen!)
- get good at asking them what their ideal solution would look like (you would think that people already looked for a solution if they already know what it looks like, but this would be over-estimating human behavior - you will find many were not even *aware* they had a problem before you started asking)
- get good at hustling to put this solution together for them and then sell it!

One word of caution : the real challenge in starting a business is in finding a profitable niche that can sustain you over the long term doing work that you love.

To achieve this, you must approach it the same way a child learns how to walk. By falling down, and trying back again.

If you want a fantastic example of what this kind of hustle can create, look no further than Clarity's founder Dan Martell (check out the 'About Me' page on his website for a great example of the "entrepreneurs' journey")

To get the proper mindset, I also suggest a total immersion in the entrepreneurial world : listen to podcasts (free), read blogs (also free), and invite entrepreneurs for lunch to pick their brains (ok, that one is 20$).

Talk to Etienne Upvote • Share
•••
Share Report

Answer URL

Share Question

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Google+
  • Share by email
About
  • How it Works
  • Success Stories
Experts
  • Become an Expert
  • Find an Expert
Answers
  • Ask a Question
  • Recent Answers
Support
  • Help
  • Terms of Service
Follow

the startups.com platform

Startups Education
Startup Planning
Access Mentors
Secure Funding
Reach Customers
Virtual Assistants

Copyright © 2025 Startups.com. All rights reserved.