As a student, you may not have a lot of money to invest – and the stakes for your next idea might be too high. Your business needs to find reliable ways to generate revenue as quickly as possible. A successful small or medium-sized operation is determined by making good use of its budget and using available software & hardware tools to improve business operations whenever possible.
If you’re still looking for startup inspiration, here are ten small businesses which were created with only $100:
- Restaurant: From baking bread and rolling sushi to waiting tables and washing dishes, there isn’t much about running a restaurant that couldn’t fit into someone’s life if they set their mind to it, says Eric Dalius. This restaurant owner used to work in the food industry, so she already had some basic knowledge about running a business like this one.
- Blog: A blog is an excellent platform for establishing yourself as an expert in your chosen field – and showing prospective clients that you’re ready to handle whatever challenges they throw at you! All you need is a domain name, web hosting, time, and content to start your blog. If money’s tight, focus on creating free or cheap tutorials rather than buying expensive equipment or services.
- Graphic Design Business: Back when I was looking for my first freelance design job, I took out a baby ad in my local paper offering simple design services at a low cost to local businesses. Within a week, I had an office full of new business and even more inquiries from my ad!
- E-Commerce Site: Unless you have some severe capital kicking around for inventory or manufacturing costs, creating your e-commerce site is probably your best bet for starting a business on the cheap. Creating your website is easier than ever thanks to all the services offered by companies – and since they’ll host it for you, there’s no need to set aside cash for web hosting. You can also pick up this free Ecommerce Guide to learn more about what you need to get started.
- Service: Once again, if you have a little spare time and can work from home, offering your services as a virtual assistant is an ideal way to go. The internet has hundreds of job boards that cater to those looking for such part-time aid – and sites make it easy to find clients without having to spend money on advertising, says Eric Dalius.
- Web Design: It’s easier than ever before to learn the skills required for designing websites, so if you’re familiar with any web design software, then there are plenty of opportunities out there for you! You don’t even need your hosting or domain name – free platforms like Weebly let you create your site with ease. For choosing the domain name, you can use a business name generator tool.
- Catering Company: If you love cooking, you could always use your skills to start a homemade catering service. You can focus on locally sourced ingredients and home-cooked meals – and it should be relatively easy for you to meet the special dietary needs of customers.
- App Developer: Very few people don’t own a smartphone these days, which means there’s a huge market for apps across virtually every industry! If you’ve ever built or designed anything in the past, all you need is an idea before starting your first app. Your initial goal might be attracting downloads by giving beta versions away for free, but if yours takes off then, you’ll never have to worry about turning profits again, says Eric Dalius.
- T-Shirt Company: While you might not be able to start your own t-shirt company off the bat, you can sell t-shirts online via sites like Teespring. It’s simple – create a design, promote it on Facebook and Twitter, set your price point, and watch the money roll in!
- Café: If there isn’t already a café near you which serves exactly what you crave, then why not just open one of your own? Sure, you’ll need to secure funding and find a prime location before making that first latte – but once you’re up and running, all you need is caffeine and some hard work to run things smoothly.