How to start a business for free

HOW TO START
A BUSINESS
FOR FREE
The Ultimate Guide
to Building Something
Profitable from Nothing

SILVER LAKE PUBLISHING
LOS ANGELES, CA ABERDEEN, WA


How to Start a Business for Free
The Ultimate Guide to Building Something
Profitable from Nothing
First edition
Copyright © 2003 by David Caplan
Silver Lake Publishing
111 East Wishkah Street
Aberdeen, WA 98520
For a list of other publications or for more information, please call
1.360.532.5758. Visit our Web site at www.silverlakepub.com.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transcribed in any form or by any means
(electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Library of Congress Catalogue Number: pending
How to Start a Business for Free
The Ultimate Guide to Building Something from Nothing
Includes index.
Pages: 308
ISBN: 1-56343-856-9

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: Getting Started

5

CHAPTER 1: CHOOSING A BUSINESS
CHAPTER 2: MEETING

THE

CUSTOMERS…AND

11
THE

COMPETITION

47

CHAPTER 3: THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF BUSINESS OWNERSHIP

67

CHAPTER 4: GETTING MONEY FOR FREE

99

CHAPTER 5: MOVING FROM THE PLAN TO OPERATIONS

137

CHAPTER 6: OFFICE SPACE, EQUIPMENT & OTHER SUPPLIES

171

CHAPTER 7: BUILDING A WEB SITE FOR YOUR BUSINESS

207

CONCLUSION: The Free Mentality

251

APPENDICES:
APPENDIX A: WHERE TO GET A BUSINESS LICENSE

253

APPENDIX B: LIST OF PATENT & TRADEMARK RESOURCES

257

APPENDIX C: LIST OF RESOURCES

261

APPENDIX D: LIST OF BUSINESS PLAN TOOLS

277

APPENDIX E: LIST OF SBDCS

281

APPENDIX F: LIST OF WOMEN’S MENTORING ORGANIZATIONS

285

APPENDIX G: LIST OF BUSINESS INCUBATORS

293

INDEX

303



Introduction: Getting Started

INTRODUCTION:
GETTING STARTED
There are many reasons to go into business for yourself. Maybe you
want to expand your earning potential or you want flexible work hours
and the best parking spot. Or, maybe you’re just tired of working for
someone else and commuting two hours a day.
Some people want to start their own business because their current
employer is downsizing and it seems easier than pounding the pavement

looking for a new job. Others want to start a business to gain the freedom
they’ve always dreamed of because being “self-employed” affords you
the freedom to control your own destiny.
Let’s face it, everyone—from newspapers, magazines and TV to radio,
Learning Annex seminars and the Internet—is touting why you should go
into business for yourself. You’ve probably seen the signs on freeway onramps that entice you to think about self-employment. Have you ever
wanted to be your own boss? Set your own hours? Work from home?
Want the freedom to work when you want? Are you thinking about
starting your own company but don’t know where to start? The list
goes on and on.
Being in business for yourself, however, isn’t always what it’s cracked
up to be. Being in business for yourself often means working long hours—
starting early in the morning and working late into the evening most days
and even putting time in on weekends. Being in business for yourself means

5


How to Start a Business for Free
postponing that vacation to Jamaica because there is no one else to run
the business when you’re not there. And, the little things, like movies, golf,
hiking or catching an occasional ball game, are no longer recreation when
you own your own business. They become luxuries.
Whatever the reason, starting your own business requires an independent spirit and a strong sense of self-motivation to stand out from
others in your marketplace. And there are plenty of other entrepreneurs in
the United States willing to take that risk and prove to the world that they
have those qualities. Why not? According to the U.S. Department of
Labor, firms with fewer than 500 employees employ 55 percent of the
private, non-farm work force, contribute 48 percent of all sales in the
country and are responsible for 51 percent of the private gross domestic

product. In addition, small business-dominated industries produced an
estimated 68 percent of the 2 million new jobs created during 2000, according to the U.S. Departments of Labor and Commerce.
If that’s not enough motivation to get your business plan up and running, according to the Small Business Administration, small businesses:
•

represent more than 99 percent of all employers;

•

employ 52 percent of the private workers;

•

employ 61 percent of the private workers on public assistance;

•

employ 38 percent of the private workers in high-tech occupations;

•

provide virtually all of the net new jobs;

•

provide 51 percent of the private sector output;

•

represent 96 percent of all exporters of goods;

•

receive 35 percent of federal contract dollars; and

•

are home-based 53 percent of the time and are franchises 3 percent
of the time.

This means if you decide to start your own business, you will not be
alone…not by a long shot! Moreover, as you start to plan what kind of
business you will start and how you will finance it, it’s a good idea to find
6


Introduction: Getting Started
other entrepreneurs in your community to help you keep your head above
water. Other entrepreneurs can help you avoid some of the common pitfalls tied to owning your own business. They’ve been down the same road
you are about to take, so find them and ask as many questions as you can.
We’ll go into greater detail on mentoring resources in a later chapter, but
it’s never too early to ask for direction.
As you begin to talk to others who have made the small-business
leap and look at other businesses that are operating in the economy around
you, you’ll see that the opportunities for entrepreneurship are abound,
waiting for the taking. You can turn anything you love into a money-making opportunity, and this book will show you how. Hundreds of businesses can be started for little or no capital at all. For example, a housesitting or tax-preparation business. Or maybe you’re more into the doggrooming or diversity training business. Take the founders of Nantucket
Nectars for example, otherwise known as the “Juice Guys” who took a
sloppy boat business and turned it into a multimillion-dollar company.
Tom Scott and Tom First didn’t want the corporate job with the
corporate car or the morning commute. They had flunked accounting, the

only business-related course under their belts, but knew when they graduated from Brown University in 1989 that they wanted to live on Nantucket year-round and make something work—on their own. Scott had
already worked in the harbor the previous year as a taxi driver. He didn’t
want to work for someone else, so he started Allserve, a floating convenience store, on a 19-foot Boston Whaler that drove around the harbor
servicing the Nantucket boating community. Scott sold muffins, delivered
newspapers, disposed of trash and even did some people’s laundry—and
he loved it because he was working for himself, outside, on a boat and
making money.
The following summer, First joined Scott and the two expanded the
business to include boat towing, repairs and rescue. Getting through the
cold and slow winter, however, was rough. One night, First made a juice
blend for dinner and within five minutes, the two Toms were joking with
one another, “Let’s sell this off the boat next summer. We’ll call it Nantucket Nectars.”
7


How to Start a Business for Free
The rest is history. But it’s not history without a few low points and
some major hits. In the start-up phase, the two Toms did everything they
could to stay afloat. They sold their juice concoctions off their Whaler and
eventually out of a little storefront on the Straight Wharf of Nantucket
(which is still there). They never lost sight of their goal to survive on Nantucket year-round and maintain a business. And, knowing that their floating convenience store was too seasonal to work in the long-run, however,
the Toms settled on making the juice company work. Without fancy funding, the two Toms resorted to making money elsewhere until the business
got going. They performed oddball jobs here and there, including shucking scallops, painting houses, bartending and pumping waste. They also
focused on the quality of their juice product (innovative bottle design and
flavors).
The two Toms paid bills slowly, collected receivables as fast as possible and paid themselves nothing. At one point, Tom Scott lived in his car
or in a group house with no heat to make ends meet. Eventually though,
the business grew and an angel investor (coincidentally a client they had
serviced in the past) kicked in some money to help move the company
along.

In 1999, Nantucket Nectars reported $60 million in sales. One thing,
however, did have to change with such rapid growth: the company grew
too large for Nantucket and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. But
by then, the Juice Guys had made their mark in the juice world. They
could sail over to Nantucket in their own boat whenever they needed
some island healing.1
The lessons from the two Toms are clear: Success in business doesn’t
necessarily start with an expensive MBA or a windfall of venture capital.
It starts by asking yourself the most basic of questions: What do you want
in life and where and how do you want to live? Focus on those essentials
and other things will likely follow. And it’s always key to make friends,
even in bars and harbors, whom you can call when you need some cash.
1

Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. bought a large piece of the company in early 1998—
which was later sold to Cadberry Schwepps—but Scott and First retain a large piece of
the company’s ownership and remain active in its management.

8


Introduction: Getting Started
Never underestimate your own financial power. Between boot-strapping your business and asking Aunt Betty for a loan to start your company, digging deep into your own pockets first is a step toward getting
what you need.
Raising capital outside your close network of friends and neighbors
is a hard thing to do these days. Capital is scarce. The late 1990s had
people wrongly believe that venture capital is easy to snatch up—for even
the rookie entrepreneur in need of start-up cash (to also finance a fancy
car and lavish parties.) That may have been the case back during the
heady dot.com days, but those days are over and the current venture

capital market is closer to how it usually works. It takes a lot more of a
sales pitch to get noticed.
In reality, the vast majority of successful new businesses are self financed. Among the honored businesses that made Inc. magazine’s 500
list over the past 20 years are Microsoft, Domino’s Pizza, Oracle, Jenny
Craig, Pete’s Brewing, Jamba Juice, The Sharper Image, Princeton Review and Patagonia. When those companies made the list, all were privately owned and at least five years old. Few, if any, started with institutional capital. And, in 2001 only 3 percent of the Inc. 500 companies
received venture-capital funds at start-up.2
This book answers the questions you may have about starting and
running your own business, and attempts to resolve those fuzzy lines between writing a business plan and actually putting the plan into action.
Starting and running your own business takes hard work. You need the
wisdom, discipline, courage and persistence to know how to best protect
your investment whether you’re running a carpentry business or doing
consulting work as a motivational speaker.
This book explains in simple terms the types of business structures
that exist, and provides a working knowledge of how to develop the financing, marketing, product development and operations of your own
business. Whether your idea for a business is big or small, you’ll want to
2

“Brief Profiles of 2001 Inc. 500 Companies”; Inc. magazine, 11/01.

9


How to Start a Business for Free
be informed about things like networking resources, grass roots advertising, meeting the competition and license and registration.
None of the material here will make you an expert on running a multimillion dollar business. However, we hope to take some of the mystery
out of the nuts and bolts of start-ups so that you can make conscious
decisions in your endeavors—business or otherwise—minimize costs and
maximize profits.
And minimizing costs is probably the most important aspect of starting a business. Since so many new businesses fail within the first year or
two that they exist, surviving the early going can be an end in itself. Your

struggle is to stay in the game while your name or brand gets
established…until your channels to market get set…until you can attract
the right people to help you grow.
This is where what I call the Free Mentality comes in to play. Obviously, starting a business requires spending some money along the way—
but, because survival is so tough, saving every dollar possible is essential
during the first years. You need to get everything that you can as cheaply
as possible. Free, if you can.
Pressing that point is what this book is about.

10


Chapter 1: Choosing a Business

CHAPTER 1:
CHOOSING A BUSINESS
Many start-up businesses thrive on little or no capital. They are the
result of executing at least one good idea, whether it’s a new product or a
new or better personal or professional service; an advertising or fundraising
campaign; or a concept for an accurate translation, proposal writing or
lawn mowing service.
Exactly what kind of business can you start up on your own? The
decision often is a personal one. The decision is one that relates to you
and your life…and the things you enjoy. Running a business is not always
easy, and there’s no reason to struggle and work at it unless you’re doing
something you truly enjoy. In other words, you don’t want to run a business you hate. So, choose something that you’re interested in doing and
that you like. If you can’t stand dogs, don’t run out and open a dog grooming
business. Unless, of course, you’ve invented a whole new and innovative
concept for dog grooming that inspires you.
You also don’t have to limit yourself to just one type of business. If

one idea doesn’t make enough money, you can supplement it by broadening your business offerings and expanding into a related area.
Let’s say you love butter, but you can’t stand the way it’s sold. You
don’t like the sticks, you don’t like the tubs…or the convenient squirt-top
bottles. Try inventing a better way to dispense butter or margarine, something you might call the Butterfly and start-up a kitchen appliance company.
11


How to Start a Business for Free
Choosing a business starts with asking yourself a few basic questions. The most important question: What do you enjoy doing? Can it be
translated into a business? Does it revolve around a service or product?
Compile a list of businesses that you would like to start. The business can
be derived from a creative idea or a unique and new invention or service.
Or, it can be derived from something you already know how to do. Try
not to think so much about money when you make this list. For now, let
your imagination wander and see where it takes you. There will be plenty
of time to hone that idea down to a realistic endeavor.

Service-Based vs. Product-Based Businesses
An important thing to consider when you’re brainstorming for business ideas is the type of business you want to start. In other words, decide
whether you want to start a service-based business or an item or productbased business. These are the two basic types of businesses you can start
quickly and easily.
The first, service-oriented businesses, allow you to perform a service
for your client, such as pet sitting, dog walking, catering, writing, consulting, etc. Service-oriented businesses are easy to start with little seed money.
All you need to get started is an idea for a service that you want to provide, some recommendations and a lot of word-of-mouth advertising.
The other type of business you can start is an item- or product-oriented business. With this type of business you provide an item or product
for your client. You can offer customized shirts for hunters, handmade
birdhouses or back scratchers. Any of these products could be the route
to starting a successful business. One thing to keep in mind: Productoriented businesses take a little more start-up capital than service businesses because you need to come up with the resources to make the
products and find outlets to sell them, but they can be profitable and rewarding, too.
Although service-based businesses are designed to sell expertise and

assistance rather than concrete or tangible goods like product-based busi12


Chapter 1: Choosing a Business
nesses, the goals of service-based and product-based businesses overlap
in many respects.
As with all businesses, economics play a pivotal role in the decisions
you make as an entrepreneur. Although there’s a risk involved in starting
your own business—service- or product-based—and filing the paperwork for a business license and obtaining a legal trademark or applying
for a grant seem like a hassle and a huge burden on your time, if you play
your cards right, you’ll be successfully rewarded for your time, energy
and research.
When choosing a business, you must first determine the value of your
business idea before you can do something useful with it. Weigh the potential value of your business idea against: 1) the probability of others
seeing that value; and 2) the costs of securing and maintaining that idea.
Remember: There’s nothing more subjective than value; what you
may think is valuable is probably worthless to someone else. If you’re not
sure, ask around. Input from others can save you a lot of time and money
in the long-run.
Another factor to consider when choosing a business: the Internet.
The boom of the Internet Age adds another factor, and possibly more
value, to your business idea. The Internet offers a new delivery system for
transmitting business ideas—books, software, data, customer lists, advertising campaigns, manufactured products, professional services, newsletters, etc. We’ll go into more detail on using the Internet to your benefit
later in the book.

Providing a Service
The most commonly recognized types of businesses that can be started
for free are service-based businesses, which fall into the following categories:
•

personal services;

•

consulting services;
13


How to Start a Business for Free
•

training services;

•

creative services; and

•

business services.

Out of all the businesses you thought you would like to start, are any
of them service-based? On the following pages we’ll consider each type
of service-based business in turn.

Taking Care of People and Their Possessions
Most people have at least one chore they simply don’t have time—
or want—to do. By starting a personal service-oriented business, you can
take care of that need. Ask around your neighborhood. Ask your old coworkers. Does anyone need a cook? Is someone looking for a housesitter next month? If you love to cook, offer to cater a party or be an inhome chef. If you love pets, start your own pet-sitting or dog-walking
business. Just think of what you love and what other people need. This

type of business is easy to start and relatively cheap. You can post fliers in
your neighborhood in an attempt to get some initial clients. The following
are a few more ideas to help get you started.
Dog Walker. If you love animals and live in a neighborhood of busy
professionals, a professional dog walking service may be a good business to start. Even if dog owners know their dogs can stay inside from
morning to night without having any mishaps, with a little savvy marketing, you can make it clear that it is better for their dog to be out and
about during the day. Would you want to be cooped up inside all day?
And because your customers provide the dog and the leash, there’s
little start-up cost on your end. In fact, all it takes to start a dogwalking business are scheduling skills and good sales ability. Start by
posting fliers or placing ads all around town. In most cases, the people
who need your services are in your own neighborhood.
Pet Sitter. This is another area where a love for animals proves beneficial to the start-up process. Catering to the needs of pet owners
needing help during the work week, vacations or illness can be a lu14


Chapter 1: Choosing a Business
crative business. Although some pet owners unload their pets on a
dog or cat kennel while they go on vacation, animals are always more
comfortable in familiar surroundings. If you start a professional pet
sitting business, you can offer several services, including overnight
service or day service where you visit the client’s house once or twice
a day to feed the pet, walk it if necessary or play with it for a short
time. You can also offer to care for the pet in your own home. Other
responsibilities may include: trips to the vet or ensuring that the pet
gets its medication. As with the dog walking business, the start-up
cost for this business is minimal. Start by posting fliers or placing ads
all around town. Ask neighbors or friends and family if they need
anyone or know of someone who does.
House Sitter. An empty home is an easy and tempting target for
burglars. Even if a homeowner remembers to put a hold on his newspaper subscription, sets automatic timers for the lights, radios and

televisions or lowers the sound on the telephone ringers and answering machine, he doesn’t fool burglars. Burglars often know when no
one is home. One solution: a house sitter. A professional house sitter
can provide a valuable service when a client takes a trip or an extended stay away from home.
As a house sitter, you can provide the following services: pick up
newspapers, mail and other things delivered to the house; mow the
lawn or shovel the snow out of the driveway, depending on the season; check to ensure that the automatic timers are working on lights,
stereos, televisions, etc., and that no light bulbs have burned out; park
a car in the driveway; or check the house for any other problems that
arise such as a freezer breaking down, storm damages, broken pipes,
etc. You can also offer a plant-watering service, look after the owner’s
pool or offer to take care of their pets for another small fee. Like pet
sitting and dog walking, there is little start-up cost for this business
and, in addition to the fee for your services, this job can provide you
with a roof over your head if you offer live-in services. You may even
find yourself spending a long period of time bouncing from house sitting job to house sitting job without having to fork over money for a
monthly rent check. Post fliers at the grocery store or ask businesses
15


How to Start a Business for Free
if you can post them on their bulletin boards. Friends and neighbors
are also a good starting point. Ask around at work, your co-workers
may know someone who needs your services.
A note on résumés: With most of these businesses, it’s also important
to prepare a résumé that outlines your work skills and experience.
Your résumé must “sell you” to a prospective employer and show him
that you have all the requirements for the position you are applying
for. Your résumé should include information about the jobs you’ve
held as well as your accomplishments, skills and experience. References are also an important part of a résumé. For a summary of the
résumé resources available to you on the Internet, go to http://

jobstar.org/tools/resume/res-web.cfm.
Professional Organizer. There are people in this world who do not
possess a single organizational skill. And, there are others who work
full-time while raising a family of five and simply don’t have time to
keep everything they own in order. As a professional organizer, you
can step in, provide assistance and help control the situation. Do you
enjoy designing filing systems? Do you look at a messy closet and
consider it a challenge? If so, this business may be right up your alley.
As a professional organizer you can provide clients with ideas, information, structure, solutions and systems to help their businesses function better. Professional organizers assist businesses with everything
from time management, clutter control and space planning to event
planning, personal shopping, financial management and public speaking. (We’ll go into more detail on a few of these later in this section.)
But, before starting this type of business, ask yourself the following:
What types of organizing services will you offer? Will you specialize in
any areas? How will you charge for your services?
While there are professional certifications for this profession, this business basically requires no capital investment to get started and can be
started as a part-time business until you are ready to run it on a fulltime basis. However, as in any service-based business, there are many
variables involved in being a professional organizer. Things like marketing, skill and the amount of time you are willing to devote, as well
16


Chapter 1: Choosing a Business
as your geographic location, play a greater role in your success as a
professional organizer. If your business is successful, you may even
want to start a line of organizing products, including books, planners,
newsletters, etc. If you need experience, find a friend or two who
needs your services and offer to organize an area of their home for
free in exchange for their word-of-mouth referrals. Or, contact your
local Chamber of Commerce for a list of organizations dedicated to
promoting and supporting the field of professional organizing.
If you want to find out more about getting certified in this field, visit the

National Association for Professional Organizers’ (NAPO) Web site
at www.napo.net or call or write to them at P.O. Box 140647, Austin, TX 78714; phone: (512) 454-8626; fax: (512) 454-3036. NAPO
is currently developing its own certification program (the completion
date is unknown).
Personal Move Coordinator. If you live in a particularly transient
area, such as an area near a military base or a large city, a move
coordinator might be a good start-up opportunity for you. Even though
there are professional moving companies that handle most of the packing and shipping involved with a move, there are plenty of other things
that must be taken care of before the moving truck arrives. Often it is
difficult for the person moving to take care of everything while working a full-time job. This is where you come in. Move coordinators
take care of many tasks, including meeting and supervising contractors and movers, coordinating phone, gas, cable, DSL and electric
hook-ups, arranging for appliance installation, organizing the house
before the movers arrive or taking any unwanted belongings to a consignment store or charity.
If a client is moving to a new area, you may also want to provide other
services such as supplying school and financing services information
or providing them with information on temporary housing needs.
Personal Shopper/Errand Runner. If you love to shop you might
want to look into being a professional personal shopper. Believe it or
not, there are people who would rather have a tooth pulled than go
17


How to Start a Business for Free
anywhere near a mall or fight midday traffic. In addition, people who
are homebound, either because they are elderly or because they are
ill, need someone to take care of errands like going to the dry cleaners, picking up groceries and shopping for cards and gifts. You can
solve that problem by offering your services. This business requires
great listening skills—you have to know the person’s taste and budget
before you use his or her money to find the right item for the best
price—whether it’s a gift idea, a business item, furniture, accessories

or clothing. And, if you plan to travel overseas or anywhere in the
United States, you can expand your services to include a greater number of items. There is little start-up cost for this business…all you
need is an e-mail account, phone number or address where clients
can contact you and, in most cases, a mode of transportation.
Babysitter/Childcare Provider. Taking care of someone else’s children can be the easiest job in the world if you like kids and have a lot
of patience. If you have a small child or small children, your local
jurisdiction will probably let you keep approximately five children during
the day as an in-home childcare provider. (Check with local laws
before you bring all the kids in though.) This allows you to earn some
money while you care for your own children and provide your services to parents who have to work but are uncomfortable taking their
kids to a large daycare facility. You can also provide babysitting services before and after school, in the evenings and on weekends. You
won’t have a 9-to-5 work schedule, but parents are more comfortable hiring a mature and reliable adult than the 13-year-old Britney
Spears look-alike from down the street.
Some states, including Virginia, also provide respite pay support to
parents with special needs children, so if you are interested in working
with children with mental or physical disabilities, you can bring in a
higher hourly rate than you could with watching non-disabled children.
Depending on whether you have your own kids, you may be able to
start this business for very little money. You’ll probably want to provide a variety of toys, books and games to keep the children occu18


Chapter 1: Choosing a Business
pied, but if you already have kids, you won’t need to go overboard.
You may want to provide snacks for the kids, too. So factor in the
cost of a few small meals. You don’t have to get certified as a teacher
but you may want to look into a basic first aid class or CPR training.
It wouldn’t hurt to look into liability and medical insurance either. Ads,
fliers and word-of-mouth are your best marketing tools in this business. If clients are happy, they’ll pass your name on to friends, neighbors and relatives looking for childcare.
Catering/Personal Chef Service. In this busy, fast-paced age, there
are plenty of people who want healthy, wholesome, home-cooked

meals that do not have the time or the energy to prepare them. If you
are a talented chef, you can provide meals for your clients in the comfort of their own homes on a full-time basis or offer to purchase a
client’s groceries, go to their home one day a week and prepare and
freeze enough meals to last the rest of the week. For most people, the
latter is a more affordable option.
As a personal chef, you can also offer packages that allow the consumer to buy three days’ worth of cooking or other amounts—estimate the fees for these services based on your time and effort. You
can provide your own ideas for a menu or prepare a client’s favorite
recipes or other dishes that are requested. Other options include offering special weekly packages that meet various dietary restrictions,
such as low-carb, low-fat, vegetarian or kosher meals. But best of all,
there is little to no start-up cost for this business because your clients
pay for the groceries and let you use their kitchen. And, as far as pots
and pans and utensils go, you can either use your client’s or your own.
You may have better luck starting this type of business if you’ve graduated from a reputable cooking school, but this is another business
where word-of-mouth referrals are key. If you offer your services to
friends or neighbors for free in exchange for their referrals, you may
be able to get this business started without formal training…provided
you are an excellent cook.

19


How to Start a Business for Free

Using Your Creative Energies
If you have any artistic talent, be it acting, painting, photography or
poetry, you may want to start a business using your artistic talent. These
businesses depend on your creativity, but if you love to create, this could
be the perfect type of business for you to start. In today’s marketplace,
there is a great demand for talented artists, writers, photographers and
designers. If you have any of the following talents or any other artistic

talent, see if you can’t turn it in to a full-time, lucrative business.
Artist/Craftsperson. While it is difficult to make a living working as
an artist, there are ways to use your artistic talents, such as painting or
sculpting, to make enough money to support the fine art you really
want to create. Get to know local interior decorators—they may know
high-end clients who want specially painted details in their homes or
some hand-painted tile work done in the kitchen and around the fireplace. If you are a painter or a photographer, you can provide portrait
services for clients who want formal paintings or pictures of their children, home, pets or themselves.
You can also team up with a local interior decorator and provide faux
finishes for walls and other surfaces in homes. This is a lucrative business, because even though the faux finishes are cheaper than the real
thing, people are willing to pay good sums of money to make sure
their walls look faux, not fake!
Another lucrative start-up for the fine arts major: the craftsperson.
People of all income levels want to personalize their homes with decorative objects. Whether you are a talented woodworker, jeweler,
metalsmith, quilt-maker or fabric painter, you can make a comfortable living by selling your wares at fine arts and crafts shows in your
area…or offer an ordering service. Although you may have to spend
some start-up funds to create some sample pieces, you can use those
pieces to acquire new orders (and up-front payment) for additional
work.
Singer. Turning your singing talent into a business isn’t easy, but it can
be extremely rewarding if you like to perform…and you’re good. In
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Chapter 1: Choosing a Business
addition to providing singing services for weddings and parties, you
can land a job with a local Italian restaurant that has Opera Night and
serenade diners.
Of course, you can also seek out more traditional singing gigs, including paid soloist or section leader work at a local church or synagogue,
a job with a local professional singing group or the lead or backup

singer for a local professional band, orchestra or studio gig. If you can
emulate the sound and tone of Patsy Cline, Linda Ronstadt or Alannis
Morissette, you may be able to land a few commercial gigs. But, be
careful. Oftentimes, in today’s litigious society, using the images or
qualities of a celebrity abusively or without permission for commercial
purposes could land you, but more realistically the company that you
work for, in court facing a right of publicity lawsuit. In fact, Bette
Midler sued Ford for using a voice like hers in its commercials for this
very reason, among others. If you are going to take this route, it might
be safer to stick to parties and other entertainment events. If you’ve
had any professional classical training or extensive voice training or
studies, another option is to offer your services as a vocal coach. You
wouldn’t need an office for this type of business. You could conduct
business out of your home or at a client’s home.
Writer/Editor. Freelance writers can find work in everything from
Web content to print material. And, once the words are written and
set to the page or computer screen, someone has to edit them to
make them legible, engaging and clear. Writers and editors are always
in demand at places like publishing companies, big corporations and
technology firms. It costs very little to start a writing or editing business, particularly if most transactions are via e-mail.
By surfing electronic job boards on sites like www.sunoasis.com,
www.about.freelance.com or www.mediabistro.com, a savvy writer
or editor can bring in a number of freelance contracts for everything
from editing a screenplay or movie poster and writing a story for a
travel magazine to collaborating on a manuscript, ghostwriting a book
or writing book proposals or grants. Of course, you might want to be
literate in proofreaders’ marks or have an English and/or journalism
21

How to Start a Business for Free
degree. Some businesses are fairly strict about this, but it’s not always
necessary. If you can prove that you’re worth it, you may not need the
degrees.
If there is a particular type of subject matter you enjoy, such as scientific writing or sociology, but you don’t want to study it yourself, one
way to get involved in that field is to offer your services as a freelance
editor. The advantage to you is that you get to work with many different organizations and with a variety of subject matter. The advantage
to the company you work for is that it can hire you by the project or
by the hour, rather than paying for a full-time staff member to review
and edit in-house work. Running a freelance editing business also means
you have the opportunity to choose between doing substantive editing, where you work with the author to make the copy clearer and
more readable, or copyediting where you proof the finished copy for
grammar, spelling and formatting errors.
Another way to drum up business is to gather print materials, such as
a menu from your favorite restaurant, a newsletter at your local community center or the brochure for a nearby garden center, write a bid
letter suggesting ways you could improve the material and send it to
the business. In many cases, these materials are written by freelance
writers and if you’re a better copywriter than they are, you might
round up some clients.
Other business ideas that use your artistic talent:
•

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Graphic Designer. Graphic designers and writers often work together on projects. A good graphic designer with an eye for color,
shape and function can bid out his or her services to many different
businesses and work on everything from annual reports, T-shirts and
book covers to posters, calendars and stationary. A graphic designer
adds a more polished and professional look to these items. Typically,
this start-up would require computer equipment and software. If you

are not equipped to do this kind of work at home already, the start-up
costs may be prohibitive. However, if you already own a good computer, high-quality printer and graphic design software such as Adobe


Chapter 1: Choosing a Business
Illustrator, Quark Xpress, PageMaker and PhotoShop, you may be
in a great position to make your graphic mark on the world.
•

Web Site Designer. Of course you’ll need a computer, but if you
already have a computer and a knack for design, there are a lot of
companies looking for talented Web site designers on a contract basis. Whether you know HTML (the language used to build Web sites)
or have more advanced programming skills, like ASP or Cold Fusion, you may be able to parlay your skills into lucrative contracts to
design and program.

•

Motivational Speaker. If you think you have a story to tell that can
inspire others and you are dynamic in front of large crowds, you might
want to consider starting a motivational speaking business. You don’t
have to have any special education or experience to break into this
career and succeed. Start by speaking for free to local schools and
clubs to get your name out there, and then use that experience to
garner bigger and bigger contracts, such as corporate retreats. Get on
the roster of a speaker’s bureau such as SpeakersQuest or Leading
Authorities Speakers Bureau to drum up more business. Don’t be
discouraged if it takes some time to get these gigs going; it can take a
great deal of experience and a number of references to get on those
lists.

•

Photographer. Start-up photography businesses are a great way to
put your artistic talents to work for you. Clearly, the biggest challenge
to starting such a business is the cost of the equipment, not to mention
the development costs. But it is possible to start such a business with
nothing more than a good 35mm camera and a supply of well-priced
film. Rather than starting out by working in the wedding industry or
portrait photography—which require larger lights, more equipment
and studio space—you can start your business by clicking photos to
sell to magazines and newspapers, either in your local area or around
the world. Find a local freelance writer who needs photographs for
their articles, and team up with them to provide art for their stories. Or
hire yourself out to smaller, more casual family events, such as a family

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How to Start a Business for Free
reunion or graduation party, where the group wants good photographs
but doesn’t want to pay for a high-end photographer. In no time,
you’ll have earned the money to buy more equipment and to go after
even more lucrative assignments. If you like to take scenic photos,
frame some of the images and try selling them at craft shows or fairs.
If word gets out, it won’t be long before you’ll be taking new orders.

Consultants Make the World Go Round
If you’re tired of the 9-to-5 work week and the office politics involved with working for a large corporation or are at the end of your
career, but wish to stay active in your field, you may want to consider
branching out on your own as a consultant either part- or full-time. A

stable job no longer holds the same definition it once did. Today’s businesses are more apt to churn employees through buyouts than carry them
on through to retirement. A consulting business can buy you more time
with your family, a better than average income and the freedom to work
out of your own home. But, you’ll need a marketable skillset and an area
of expertise that others are willing to pay for.
If you’re not ready to make the big jump to being out on your own,
you may want to negotiate with your current employer to provide services
on a contract basis. If you’re on good terms with your current employer,
this is the easiest way to transition into a new business…and obtain additional clients. The following are a few examples of consulting services that
have little to no start-up business costs.
Management Consultant. Although every organization would like
to say it runs just as it should, on occasion, someone from the outside
with a different perspective is sought to evaluate a problem. Whether
a company has a management/staff relations issue, a nonprofit or corporate board that must learn how to more effectively serve the organization or needs assistance in a search for a new executive director,
you can help solve these problems. As a management consultant, you
can dedicate yourself to add value through increased profits, greater
sales, improved cash flow, enhanced return on investment, greater
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