How I started my business without borrowing money

One area that stops a lot of people from taking that step of faith and starting a business is not having enough capital to start. Depending on the type of business that can be a huge barrier to starting however, I managed to start my business with no upfront capital and did not have to borrow. This is how I did it. 

Use employment wisely 

If you know the type of business you want to start, you may need to consider seeking employment that will provide you with the necessary training required to give you both technical and practical experience whilst getting paid. In some situations that can also work well as it will expose you to a network of people within that industry who could support you in future or who can be your future clients. 

I knew from an early age that I wanted to be an accountant. I didn’t know which area I wanted to specialise in but I knew this was definitely the path I wanted to take. When I finished high school, I decided not to go to university but to start studying for a professional qualification in accounting. This helped me to get a job with a large accounting firm that then paid for the rest of my education. The firm also provided me with the training required to become fully qualified. I later used the qualification and experience to get a licence that helped me start my business. 

Keep expenses down

It can be tempting to think you need a lot of stuff before starting. At this stage, it is very important to utilise as many free resources as possible and keep the costs low. The blog that I initially started with was free. I used this to test the waters and see if this was something I wanted to do. The costs I incurred like business insurance, licence applications etc when I later decided to provide accounting services were paid for using the money I saved from my salary. I did not commit to any long-term expenses until I was able to pay for them using money from the business. When you are starting, it is easy to commit to a lot of recurring costs that are not necessarily essential for running the business. 

Starting small and growing over time 

Starting small is always underrated but I believe this is the best way to start a business if you don’t have upfront capital. Starting small allows you to save manageable amounts over a period of time. There are some things that textbooks cannot teach you, only experience can. This is a valuable lesson I have learned as have grown at a manageable pace. When you start with a small number of clients or products, this is the time when you see if your systems or products work. There is room to make and learn from mistakes that won’t have too much of a detrimental effect. It also allows you to gradually improve your systems, therefore allowing you to spread out the money required. 

Streamline your personal finances and save manageable amounts over time

If you do not have up-front capital, it is important to really take a look at your personal budget and really streamline it. This means really focusing on saving money for the business. This can be done by cutting expenses where possible and giving up on certain things for a period of time. You may reach really tough times but it is important to stay focused on the end goal. When we wanted to purchase our first investment property, we had to really streamline our budget and remove a lot of the luxuries until we were able to raise the capital that was needed. 

I hope the blog will inspire you to go for it and start working on your business. I have personally seen that it is possible to start a business without going into debt.