Eight ways to start a business with no money (updated for 2025)
Posted: Tue 14th Oct 2025
Short on cash and trying to start a new business? Testing and launching your idea doesn't need to break the bank.
This blog explains eight tactics to help you start up with little-to-no money. We've also introduced bootstrapping and even shared advice on coping with limited resources.
Eight ways to start up with no money
1. Barter and ask for free stuff
Start networking and think about how you can offer value. You'll get the help you need and build useful relationships for the future.
What skills can you offer? Do you have expertise that could help other founders?
Whether it's taking Instagram photos or building a cash-flow forecast, you can try to exchange services with other business owners.
2. Work with a mentor
Experienced business owners have solved most of the challenges you face – understanding their approaches will save you time and money.
Nimi Nosh founder, Nicole Michael, sought out a mentor after getting rejected by retailers.
Just two years later Nicole had bootstrapped her way to a listing with 400 Tesco stores.
“I went and got a mentor to help me with that transition. To push me and guide me on that journey.”
People want to help you, so make it easy for them:
Start small: Ask a simple, relevant question that is easy to answer.
Put effort into the relationship: Turn up on time and be prepared.
Share the impact: Tell them what impact the advice had.
You can search our community to find an adviser who can help.
Related resources:
3. Get free business support
Search for grants that can help you get started.
Enterprise hubs have been set up to support emerging businesses. It is free to work with these organisations and they can signpost you to relevant grants:
Scotland: Business Gateway
Wales: Business Wales
Northern Ireland: Local Enterprise Agencies
England: Growth Hubs
Related resources:
4. Build something as a partnership
Partnerships give you free or low-cost access to the resources you need. Think about other businesses or organisations that have equipment or space you can use.
For example, there are lots of venues that aren't being used all the time, providing space to run events or fulfil orders.
Think about how you can offer value. For example, a café might give you free space for a meet-up during quieter periods because people will buy coffees.
You might be able to promote someone's business through your marketing or volunteer to help with one of their projects.
Related resources:
5. Start with a side hustle
Launching a business while you still have a job provides financial stability and gives you the opportunity to test your idea.
Ronke Jane Adelakun ran Cultureville as a side hustle for 12 months before quitting her day job. That gave her the time to build a brand, develop marketing channels and save money.
"We saved a lot of money. We reduced our spending to the bare minimum. We did a six-month projection of how much we would need and thought we could get it profitable within six months."
Related resources:
6. Start with little (or no) stock
It's difficult to buy significant amounts of stock.
One approach, which is sometimes called the “flywheel”, is to start small and invest profits back into your inventory.
Another option is to start advertising your service before it's built; create a simple web page or form explaining what you offer and collect enquiries rather than orders.
This will help you understand potential demand and can be fed into a waiting list for your launch.
Think about different ways you can offer your product or service too.
You might want to open a café, which requires a big investment. But perhaps you can start by catering someone's event.
7. Start building your marketing channels
Building email marketing lists, blog traffic and social media audiences doesn't cost anything. And, the earlier you start the better.
Not only will you have marketing channels ready when you launch, but you can get valuable feedback.
More founders than ever are building their personal brands. So, think about sharing your story as you start and launch a business.
Related resources:
How to build a community that can help promote your products
Seven ways to position your product successfully on a bootstrap budget
8. Start talking to potential customers
The most important thing you can do is talk to potential customers as early as possible. And, it's totally free!
Start by talking about their experiences. Find out their challenges and what they want from your service or product.
What is bootstrapping?
Bootstrapping is starting a small business with a limited budget.
It comes from the phrase “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”, which now means to do things for yourself.
Our blog post on how to bootstrap a start-up explains the pros and cons, and sets out the stages of launching this way:
validate your idea
identify your audience and find niche markets
work out how much money you need to get started
invest back into the business
Coping with financial worries
Starting a business with little or no money is difficult. Understanding how you think and feel about money can help relieve the pressure that starting up creates, advises M.A.T.S. Consulting founder Kim Masters:
“When you start up there’s always a lot of fear. That can be paralysing. It’s really important you recognise what the fear is.”
Kim shares practical steps to take control of your finances and feelings about money:
Make sure you have a contingency plan (it generally takes longer than you think to make the money you want).
Use a money journal to write down your thoughts, so you can hear what you’re saying to yourself and start to recognise the emotions.
If you aren’t making the progress you want, think about the story the numbers are telling you.
Often the answer is to keep building imperfectly and ignore the hype around other people’s success stories, Kim adds:
“Having the clarity and control of your money is really important. When you start to build those habits it becomes easier.”
Stories that will help make you inspired
Launching a business might seem impossible when you don't have the funding or network to back it up. But you can start learning, create a simple business plan and talk to customers.
Here are some stories of other founders that have bootstrapped to help you get inspired:
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