Do you have $50? Then you can start a home based business.
$50? Are you kidding? Nope, not at all, I did it and now I support my family on it.
How long does that take? That depends entirely on you, how committed you are and what you decide to do.
My suggestion is sales of products that are inexpensive to obtain,have a broad market appeal, then when you are established and have some earned sales experience, branch out to a niche market.
I also suggest you run from any multi-level marketing.
You know the ones, cosmetics, kitchen utensils, vitamins, etc.
They are all pyramid schemes and the only one who makes money is the top of the pyramid.
Why work your tail off for someone else? Isn't that why you want your own business to begin with? The independence? What you earn is your not a paltry cut of a bigger pie.
Why spend hours doing their work for them? Do it solely for yourself.
$25 made for yourself would be equivalent to making $2-500 or more for another company? If you can generate $500 in sales then it should be yours.
First, let's discuss auction sites.
I know, you are not into yard sales and you know nothing about selling or marketing.
So what? They provide the cheapest education on the planet.
What if I told you that for a minimal amount of investment and a few hours a week you could get going to financial independence? It's a great place to start.
Why? Auction sites have an easy built-in infrastructure and a captive audience that would take you a long time to develop on a website with zero experience, no finances, and no business set up.
Most auction sites are easy on newbies.
They offer a small number of listings for no money up front, only when you sell.
You will need very little to make that happen.
You open an account in about 5 minutes, open a payment account they usually offer if you don't already have one and you are off to the races.
Next get your experience making mistakes.
That's right, mistakes and you will make them.
Call it tuition to your school of commerce.
The sites make the selling process so easy for starters that anyone who has a computer can do it.
You will need very little in the way of supplies.
Find some things around the house you don't want and list them.
Use yard sale start prices so they go, so what if you think they are worth more? Think of it only as education nothing less.
all you need is a decent camera to upload some pictures, a few boxes and packing material(I suggest buying them online at one of the packaging companies) or asking friends, neighbors to save you theirs.
Once you find that process easy, that then it is time to decide what you really want to do.
You've mastered the basics.
I do suggest you read and read.
Online and your local library have hundreds of books.
It's amazing what you can learn if you try just a little bit.
You hated school and don't like to read? Well then you are probably going into this with a bad attitude because learning is the only way to success.
Not thousands of dollars or a keen business mind.
Knowledge is power so get over it and start learning.
Once you are comfortable with the basics and making a bit of money the next step is pretty easy.
Get a tax ID or state sales tax number.
You can apply online at any state website.
You fill out a short form and a small fee.
You will need one to buy wholesale or to get a business account at wholesale companies, and eventually pay the taxes on your earnings.
We all hate taxes but it is a fact of life.
Unless you want to stick with selling trinkets online then get one.
Some people make several hundreds of extra dollars doing just that, there is nothing wrong with it, but if you want more than just some extra spending money, have a vision of a real company.
Empower yourself one by one with the tools you hope you will need in the future as your business grows.
Next write down a business plan.
It can be as simple as "By next year this time I want to have 100 sales", or "I want to in 5 years own a store".
Whatever your goals write them down and review them monthly.
See where you are, ahead of your schedule or falling behind.
Pick your self up and carry on.
Tenacity and self-esteem can make or break your venture.
Make yourself become a business person by having a schedule even if you can only devote 2-3 hours a week then stick to it, make a budget, list your expenses and profits if only in a notebook.
A plus at the end of the month can go a long way to building your personal feel good metric.
Self-affirmation is way better than looking to someone else for a pat on the back.
Open an account separate from your personal account so you can track your progress.
What if you want to market a skill not related to sales? That gets a bit harder because of all the regulations now, you need more money and fees to comply with the government on everything from lawn services to babysitting other people's children or even baked goods.
You open yourself up to liability that you probably never thought of and insurance is outrageous.
Unless you want to compose e-books, there isn't a whole lot that doesn't require exposure to the public.
My advice is stay with a small online business to start.
It's fairly anonymous, safe and you can play around with different wholesale goods with as little as $50 for a minimum order.
How do I find wholesale companies? Like I said you will at some point be asked for a business tax ID.
So get to that point in your progress as outlined above.
At this point it gets really simple.
Go to a search engine and type in whatever you think you might want to sell then the word "wholesaler" after it.
You will get literally hundreds of options.
Spend time looking at what they have but you won't get what they cost until you open an account with them, you will need that tax ID as we discussed.
Bookmark them and name them with their relevance to your likes and dislikes.
Start opening several accounts [it's free] and start with a very small order.
Go back online to an auction site and see what your choices are selling for.
That gives you a metric on what your start price will be.
Always in the beginning be a bit lower than the average, not necessarily the lowest but very reasonable.
As you sell, you will slowly accumulate profit.
Use part of that to buy a bigger order, save a bit for bargains when you see them.
Little by little your mistakes will get less and less and your successes will be more apparent.
You will, I promise in the beginning buy things that don't sell or find you paid too much for or find better suppliers and prices as time goes by.
Be ready for that and donate whatever you do not sell to a local charity.
That way you get the write off as you get rid of useless product and learn to move on from a mistake.
I never said it was easy but it is rewarding if you give it your best effort.
Happy Sales! Deborah G Flynn