I come from a middle class working background and these are the type of people I know. These are the people I want to help take control of their lives and start businesses. In helping people I have found 2 big problems with making money in a business.
The first problem is that many people think they need a lot of money to start a business. Some times this is the case but most of the time it is not.
If you have a skill that others will pay you for then you do not need any money except to maybe print up some business cards. If you need to buy supplies to make or install something for your customer then negotiate a way to get them to pay you part or all up front.
Also if you need to learn about something in business there is so much free information out there about starting a business that you could almost learn all you want for free (library, Small Business Administration, iTunes U, free university resources). Take a look at my website here where I have listed a bunch of resources I use and most are free.
If you think you need a lot of money to start a business then follow these steps to figure out how to spend less.
Write down all of the things you think you need for business
Decide what you need now and and what you need later. The stuff you need later can be put on the back burner.
For each item in the list, take one at a time and do a little research and brain storming to figure a way to avoid spending any or as much money. Consider buying used, bartering, or borrowing.
Remember that just throwing money at the problem may be easiest in the short term but it will come back to bite you in the future. Learn to think creatively if you want to become a true bootstrapper.
The second problem I see a lot of starting business owners is they are afraid of taking people’s money. They are always looking to be the cheapest out there.
Side note: it is good to save your customers money but do not do it by cutting your margins, do it by cutting costs and passing that along to your customer. If you start trying to undercut the competition you are only shooting yourself in the foot. If you are chasing customers that are in search of the lowest price you will have few loyal customers and will always spend a ton of money getting new customers that will be leaving you anyway.
The first mind set is to get over the feeling that you are doing something wrong for taking someone’s money in your business. You are not stealing, you are trading your product or service for their money. In a fair business exchange each person trades for something they value more than what they originally had. In other words your customer values your product or service more than the money they are giving you.
Second, you need to stop looking at how to reduce your price you need to figure out how to increase it. Ask yourself “how can I add more value to the customer?” By adding more value you are able to fairly charge more.
So remember that you are in business to serve your customers well and if you are letting an excuse like you don’t have enough money get in the way or you are shooting yourself in the foot by cutting your profits then you are not going to be helping anybody.
While money for start up costs may sometimes be a legitimate concern, there are ALWAYS creative workarounds you can implement with a little brainstorming and imagination.
Simply put, there will always be a dozen reasons why you can’t start your own business. Look for the one reason why you can.