BUSINESS ARTICLE : Starting a business with NO money at all

The biggest myth among people who are afraid to start in business and among those who provide loans is that you must have money to get into business. It simply is not true. People start businesses for different reasons. Sometimes it is because they have no money and they need to feed their children, sometimes it is because they don¼t want to work for a boss, sometimes because they are ambitious and want to rise high and sometimes because they have a vision of something they want to achieve and starting a business is the only way to achieve it. There are as many reasons as there are businesses. But there are some key reasons why businesses work. People whose businesses are successful usually have these characteristics: * They work very hard in their businesses. * They learn everything they need to know about their kind of business and business generally. * They believe in what they are doing. * They deal well with the people who work with them. * They treat their customers like gold. * They are pro-active. In other words, they decide what to do. They do not let the world decide for them. * They never, never give up. * They usually have good reputations. * But they do not always start with money. The fundamental fact is that, in order to make your business work, you need knowledge, energy and the will to stick at it more than you need money. A community near you If you are starting a locally-based business, it is useful to start one in the community where you live. If you start in your own community you know what your customers need because they live the same kind of life that you do. A small business, attuned to the needs of the community, can give the best and most personal service. You can offer a service that is exactly right for the customer A business idea A business idea does not require brilliance. All it requires is that you see something that people need and you find a way to supply it. If they need it every day, so much the better. There is more than one way to make money Out of any community need. If you see that your community needs houses to be built, then you can get into building or you can sell bricks to the people who are building, or you can start a building material delivery service or erect fences or install electrical connections or plumbing or... In any field, there are plenty of services that people need. Your strengths and weaknesses Think about what you are good at and what you like doing. Think about what you can do now without any training. It is much easier to start a business in something you are good at. And it is much more satisfying to do work that you like. It is important to know your strengths and weaknesses before you start a business. This is because your weaknesses may cause problems unless you find ways to deal with them. Try not to see only your weaknesses though, rather concentrate on your strengths. Sometimes you can get a partner who has different strengths to you and so he or she makes the business stronger, cancelling out your weaknesses. Sometimes partnerships work well. Usually then the partners¼ abilities fit each other. One of the partners may be a sales person, one may be good at admin ã the book keeping and so on, and another good at making what you are selling. But before you enter any partnership, make sure that you can trust your partners and that they trust you. A partnership in which the partners do not trust each other is sheer hell. Ask someone who knows We all make mistakes and mistakes in business can be very expensive. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes. But sometimes you can avoid mistakes by asking someone for advice. Do not just ask anyone. Find out if there are people in your family or community who already have a business that is doing well. See if they will advise you. It is better to ask for help from someone who has been in a business that has failed,than asking someone who has never been in business at all. At least they have been there. Also, read SUCCEED. There is plenty of good advice in our pages. Or you can write to Septi. You can find his column elsewhere in the SUCCEED publication. Planning When starting in business you have to work out exactly how much it will cost you to be in business. You need to list all your expenses, those that occur every day, every week or every month, and those that are just setting up expenses. Then you need to know things like where to buy the best goods at the lowest prices. From that you can work out how much you have to sell or how many customers you need to provide yourself with an income. You also need to know if you need a permit or a licence to run your business. The people who need permits are usually the people who sell food or the people who sell things on the streets. You can find out if you need one from your local municipality. Researching the market This sounds grand but it is just finding out if people will buy your product or use your service. Here you do what is called market research. This is where you go to people and ask them if they would use your business for the price that you intend to charge. It is important to remember to ask the right people. Do not ask your friends and family, they will only say, yes, to be nice to you. Ask the people who you think will buy your things. Make sure that they are the right age and from the right area. There is no point in asking a lot of old people if they will buy the latest fashion in shoes from you. Most of them will say, no. You need to ask the young people who like to wear the latest fashion in shoes. Now you need to look at where you are going to start your business. First look at your customers. Who are most likely to be your customers¼? Will they be men or women, children or all the people? Will they be commuters? Will you find them in the suburbs or in the townships? This will let you decide where to set up your business. If your customers are school children then it would be good to start your business close to a school. Think about where you expect to do the most business. Some people start their businesses from home, some hire a place to set up their business and some walk from door-to-door. You also need to think about when you are most likely to do business. Will it be during the day or night? You also need to think about the time of the day that you will most likely be busy. Maybe you will be very busy at lunchtime, if you sell food. What time of the week or the month will you be most busy? If you sell bread then maybe it will be every Friday or if you sell toilet paper, then maybe it will be at the end of the month. You need to know these things so that you can make sure that you have enough stock to satisfy all your customers. Getting started without money Most of all, when getting into business you need to know as much as you can about it. Knowledge and ability are what you most need. The next thing is reputation. A good reputation is better than money. But it does cost money to start a business. So how can you start a business with-out money? First of all, you probably need to select the kind of business that does not cost too much to set up. It costs much less to start a service busi-ness than it does to stock a shop, for instance. A motor mechanic can repair cars from his own home. All he needs is tools. While even a small grocery store like a spaza shop costs thousands, usually tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands to stock. You need to think about what you will need to start your business and where you will get it from without money. Can you go to your friends or family for help? Do not assume that they cannot help. They may surprise you. They may not have money, but they may be able to help in other ways. A family member may provide you with food and shelter during the difficult early days of your business. You may need stock to sell and a family member may be able to supply that. Someone may stand good for a loan. This where a good reputation comes in. When Raymond Ackerman bought Pick ån Pay there were just four shops where 50 people worked. Today there are hundreds of his shops and 30 000 people work for him. But to buy the first four shops he had to borrow money. This was not hard to do because he had been the general manager in charge of Checkers. He had the reputation of being a good businessman and also of being an honest man. People who knew about him, lent him the money. When SUCCEED was started, Martin Dannheisser, the owner of the Springs Advertiser, guaranteed the printing money for the first year. He took this risk without getting anything for it. And he did it because he had faith in the people who were trying to start SUCCEED. Nothing is worth more than your reputation. It may be possible to barter for things you need. If you are making furniture, it may be that the wood merchant will take some furniture in exchange for supplying you with enough wood to get you started. Sometimes you can get a business started that only needs you to work half day. This allows you to be employed for the other half day so that you can have the money that you need for your business. If you are married, one can work in a job to keep the family going, while the other starts the business. Sometimes you can get started with a big contract by asking a customer to pay you half the money before the job, so that you can buy the materials you need. But, remember, you need the reputation of being honest. If people believe you are dishonest, they will never help you. If a customer has given you the money for paint that you need, do not think that you can now go and take your girlfriend out with the money for the paint. This will give you a bad reputation and no one will use you again. Sometimes you can get credit from a store that sells things in bulk and you can pay them back when you have finished the job. But if you let them down you will be finished. Time is very precious One kind of resource that you can give is your time. It is a very important resource for your new business. Starting a business will take up all of your time. Think about the following ques-tions: How much time do you need to spend each day to run your business¼? Are you willing to work much longer hours than you do now? Do you have another job? Will you have to stop doing this work to give your new business the time it needs¼? Will you still have time for yourself, your family and your friends? Will you be able to do everything yourself, or do you need help¼? Do you have any other important things in your life now¼? Will you have to stop doing them if you get too busy? Flow important is your business to you'? Some of the other resources that you will need are things like transport, tools and space. The following questions will give you an idea of what else you need for your business: Do you need transport? Will you need to collect or deliver the stock, customers or goods? Do you have the special tools and equipment you need. for this kind of business? These could include a telephone, and a fax machine or a computer. Or they could include spades, shovels and axes. If you do not have the tools or equipment you need, can you buy them, borrow them or rent them¼? Do you have a place to run your business? Can you store the equipment you need to make the product? Can you store the product? Are you going to need a space to sell your product? If you are going to work outside, what will you do when it rains? You need to think carefully before starting in business. And you have to be serious about your business. If you are not serious and hard-working, you will certainly fail. But if you are serious and you use your common sense, you have every chance of success. And success in business can open whole new worlds to you. Knowledge and ability are what you most need. The next thing is reputation. A good reputation is better than money