Desperate to start my own business, but how??

[pinkpencil]

Seriously, how do people do it if they haven't got money upfront/come from money??

I've always wanted to own my own business. I hate working for other people. I hate being micromanaged, which most employers do.
I'd love to either own an air b&b business (own a few different properties) or my own child care business (nursery preferably) as I have a lot of child care experience/qualifications.

I don't have money, I don't come from money and I doubt I'll be in a position where I come into money any time soon. So how the hell do people do it? I hate the thought of having to work for someone else for the rest of my life.

Would love to hear some positive stories

P.S I play the lottery every week but I can't rely on that now can I

Savings, business loans, solid business plan and not being afraid to ask for help.
There are organisations which help start ups, some specifically aimed at women, and they could be good first port of call for you

Both the businesses you mention require large amounts of cash and resources to start up. If you want to go directly that route, you’ll need a credible business plan you can take to a potential investor who might lend you the money - bank, investment company, etc.

Otherwise you need to start small with something you can do with little outlay from your existing resources, (usually savings + space at home) until you can grow a business. If you want eventually to own your own nursery, how about starting as a childminder at home, build a clientele, and a reputation, then build towards putting your profits into a bigger business.

You’ll need some advice about becoming a small business owner - I am sure there are plenty of resources out there for information.

Why not be a childminder then? Much much less initial outlay required.

Start by offering a service, you only need domain and website. Property is very expensive!

Childminder could be a good option for you, no massive initial outlay if your House is suitable.

I bought a franchise which is a less riskier way of buying a business.

I'd start with childminding from your home - then you'll have a track record to build on if you borrow to expand.

My local community centre runs an enterprise course for people looking to start a business - have you looked for anything like that close to you?

Most successful business owners will have a history of other businesses behind them, some successful, some not. Very few jump straight in to businesses requiring high amounts of capital.

Plenty of people start very small with small scale businesses that require very little upfront cash. They reinvest the profits to make their "small" business bigger and then ultimately sell it and use the savings/proceeds to ratchet up to a bigger business, and so on. Lots of businesses don't have high "barriers to entry" whether cash or qualifications or experience, etc. Another good thing about starting small and having a series of small businesses as you grow is the experience you gain, i.e. dealing with and making contacts, with suppliers, customers, banks, insurers, accountants, solicitors, etc, all of whom you'll need when you come to buy your "big" business.

An alternative route is working and saving as much as you can over several years.

Nothing at all wrong with starting small/simple and growing/expanding as the years pass by until you get to where you want to be.

I'm an accountant and I've had 2 "self made millionaire" clients over the years. First one was a guy who had a workshop in his garage - he spent years developing a specialist piece of equipment (electronic connector for a specific industry), getting patents for it, and finally launching it. After 10 years of manufacture/production, he sold the company for £20million. All from a garage workshop he cobbled together and a few years of working on the designs/prototypes etc.

The other client was a husband/wife. Wife was a SAHM with 2 young kids. Husband was a shop manager. So, pretty normal. Husband got diagnosed with a debilitating disease so had to give up work. Wife had to do something quick to pay the bills. She had a hobby and had been frustrated with difficulty getting materials/equipment for her hobby. She decided to try to source these, and sell them on Ebay, as she thought there may be others with same problem. She bought £250 of stock (all they could afford). It sold very well, so she bought more stock with the proceeds, and so it went on. Eventually she ended up with a warehouse and 20+ staff, and then sold the business for £5million.

Both started from basically nothing but what they already had and ratcheted up their businesses from nothing by reinvesting the profits.

Nothing at all wrong with starting small/simple and growing/expanding as the years pass by until you get to where you want to be.

So many people don't get this and properly fail. It's completely right. Have goals, think big, but think smart and work yourself to that goal

I would also say key is finding something you are passionate about/good at/finding a gap in the market. A lot of small businesses require far more hours (especially at the start)than the equivalent job working for someone else so it's got to be something you really enjoy or are good at.

What about working your way up to being the manger of a nursery? Then you can micromanage. Or if it’s a chain, area manager.

Or you could start up a childminding business. Start with a couple of children. Grow and take on assistants.

I hear nursery margins are very slim. I’m not sure that’s a business I’d go into.

Likewise running property rentals. Not really lucrative unless you bought the property a while ago.

I think most nurseries really struggle to make a profit as the government funding for children 2 and up is less than they charge an hour. My nursery told me they get 4.50 per hour per child, which with the ratio of one staff to four children is 18 an hour to the staff's 9 or 10 an hour plus electricity, rent/mortgage, insurance, training days, extra management staff, and they can only get that funding 30 something weeks of the year, for staff who are paid for 52.

You'd make a lot more for yourself being a childminder with much less admin too.

I think the first step is researching the industries you're drawn to and seeing what's profitable and following models of what multiple people have done that turned out successful.

It's not just the business idea that you need. You have to be prepared (and able) to work so hard, even if you're earning nothing at the start. The only thing to do is make sure it's something you love, because you're going to have to spend an awful lot of time on it.

It's so unrealistic to want a string of AirBnBs - the amount you'd have to pay to make that happen is ridiculous. When you think about that do you think you'd clean them all yourself? Is cleaning something you enjoy? If so then why not think of setting up as a cleaner, get some clients under your belt and then set up a cleaning business where you train others and take a cut. There's very little outlay but you'd have to be really good at your job and good at dealing with clients and good at training and admin, too.

If you think "Oh god, no, I don't want to do the cleaning" then what part of owning an AirBnB do you think you'd like?

Childminding is the obvious business idea
If you already have the qualifications then you need very little to start that up. You can do it in a rented property with agreement.

Air BnB would only work if you already have property otherwise you'd have to try to get a business loan to buy one which seems a bit unlikely to happen

Do a strategy could be Childminding to start with, save up a deposit then get a BTL or holiday rental property.

Airbnb type business needn’t be expensive to start. Google ‘rent to rent’ or ‘rent to SA’. It’s essentially legally operating a rented property as a HMO or a holiday let. You do need to understand what you’re doing and the legal ramifications. It’s how Airbnb operators without huge cash reserves start. I know operators running 20+ properties none of which they actually own. The money they make is then reinvested into other property based businesses like deal sourcing for overseas investors or development.

I echo what everyone else has said. Also another thing to note is a huge majority of businesses fail within the first year, be prepared to have a couple of years of losses under your belt before you make any decent profit. I’ve worked longer hours now than I ever have done working for someone else, having said that I will never go back to being employed.

Most of the air bnbs we’ve stayed at (and fair enough I look for the cheaper ones), have been converted outbuildings or garages in peoples gardens, big enough for a small kitchen, bathroom, living room and bedroom. Is that something you could go at your current home?

Not all businesses need start up funds.
I run a small business from home, my initial start up was literally £20.
I used profits to expand. Never needed capital.

I started my own business nearly 2 years ago. It all stopped due to Covid but I've managed to start up again. I run preschool nature sessions. My initial investment was probably around a grand for tarpaulins, mats, art items etc.

I'd love to make it a larger franchise business, but first I need to prove it's viable and iron out any kinks. So I have a two-year plan to work it around my existing job, running sessions and parties etc. and get it to a point where I can do it full time and think of the next steps.

So it doesn't cost much to get going with something. Think big, but remember the small steps to get there!

Hello, I used to run my own business (non childcare) and now work in childcare! There is a lot you can do, find a niche for your area: Run a local after school or holiday club (drama/dance/sport/art etc), run kids parties with a theme, set up a business handling childcare at weddings. Some shared working spaces are beginning to open creches.

you are thinking too big, we started a business with 10k 15 years ago, it's been hard work with many tears and sleepless nights, only in the past couple of years have we got to a stage where we are making good money, able to buy a house etc.

I have a friend who is literally a self made millionaire and the things that mark him out are 1) he really understands money. Always haggles prices, can calculate margins in his head, never does anything with a poor payback or for any emotional reason 2) he is not afraid of risk eg he bought a property in Canary Wharf in the 90s with a 125% mortgage and a deposit he borrowed on a 0% credit card. I told him he was an idiot and was going to bankrupt himself. Now who is the idiot? He made hundreds of thousands of pounds profit on that investment which then gave him cash to invest in other stuff. I am in awe of it but would never have the confidence to do that stuff myself. He invests in crap businesses that fail fairly often too but the winners outweigh the losers so much that he is absolutely rolling in it.
I just could never be like that. I don't have the mindset. Maybe you do?

What kind of business? If it's service based you don't need to spend anything. Get yourself a Facebook page, Instagram, that's all you need. A website is optional, I did ours cheaply on Wix. If you need to buy supplies/stock or get training that's a bit different.

I started my own business with no money. Granted I had qualifications in the relevant area. I then saved up, done a couple of courses, and started my business. I only needed 2 chairs and a room though.

Other than that - you need a business plan. For any business. Then you can do a formal one if you want to approach banks to lend you start up money. Also, check out your local council grants available. I’m in Scotland but we have grants through business gateway. I used one of there’s ‘women into work’ to buy my chairs

"I just don't have any money" says a poster who 'owns multiple properties'. Um, sell one.

For any business to be successful you need to know it from the ground up. The air b n b thing sounds a bit pie in the sky until you own a few different properties. Alternatively you could work as an independent host to gain experience until you can afford them.

With childcare theres nothing stopping you from starting up now as a childminder and building up. Very few individuals buy fully running businesses churning out money. Most people create on a low level work hard and then have something to look at.